The much-anticipated Central City Project within the Central Province will soon take shape following an approval of K27million funding allocation for the Central City development. The long-awaited dream of giving Central Province its own identity took a major step forward with the first drawdown of K10, 000 from the Central Provincial Central City Trust Fund under the leadership of Central Provincial Member Rufina Peter, marking the beginning of the much-anticipated Central City project. “For so long, Central has not had a face, and I want to leave a legacy where Central has a face,” said proud Walis Imbal, Provincial Financial Manager, who was instrumental in advocating for and securing the release of the funds. Speaking at a small ceremony attended by representatives from Finance and National Planning, Imbal recalled the history of the trust fund stating that the funds remained dormant and unused, therefore a new trust deed had to be issued by Finance for funding to be avail. “We then worked very closely with the Acting Provincial Administrator, the Governor, and the Finance Department, and we are glad Finance Secretary approved for the access of the K27 Million specially for Central City development. Deputy Finance Secretary Tom Tiki who spoke on behalf of the Finance secretary at the approval of funds stated that the Finance Secretary, made emphasis on two major projects for Central Province—the Central City and the Central Hospital. “He also stressed the need to utilize funds sitting in trust accounts, not leave them idle, because across provinces, K2 to K3 billion remains unused in trust accounts at the sub national level, this money needs to be spent,” Tiki said. Acting Provincial Administrator Edward Kila also voiced his concern, calling on the administration to rally behind the Governor. “Money has sat there for over fifteen years, and nothing has resulted, let’s use the funds for the purpose intended,” Kila said. Governor Rufina Peter revealed that one of her first tasks upon taking office in 2022 was to investigate the status of Central City. “I knew from my days in National Planning that there was a trust account with funds parked there, so when I came in, I wrote quickly to Planning because K300,000 was outstanding to Snowy Mountain Engineering (SME) Company for an independent assessment of the Bautama site.” “Despite writing three times with no response, we eventually funded the payment through Provincial Executive Council (PEC), once paid, Snowy Moutain Engineering released the report,” Governor Peter explained. The independent assessment revealed that only a third of the land at Bautama is suitable for development, with most of the land being hilly and requiring costly flattening said Governor Rufina. “As a result, PEC prioritized 50 hectares for the Central Provincial Hospital, while the Provincial Market structure, initiated under the previous government, already occupies another prime section of flat land”. “With much of Bautama’s flat terrain taken up by these key projects, PEC has endorsed relocating the new seat of Government to Sabusa, along the Hiritano Highway.” The drawdown of the K10,000 is for Stationers and represents not just the start of physical works again but also a renewed commitment to giving Central Province a face and a legacy through infrastructure that will serve its people for generations.