Local leaders in the Northern Province have been urged to ensure that procurement processes are concluded in time to facilitate service delivery.The Northern Province governor, Aimé Bosenibamwe, made the appeal while meeting local leaders during the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of performance contracts, locally called Imihigo.It was observed that projects implementation were still far below the set targets across all the districts in the province."Most of the projects are yet to be implemented. They include electricity rollout in villages, boosting agriculture and working with private investors, among others,” Bosenibamwe said.He added that subscription to health insurance (Mituelle de Santé) is also still low with all the districts in the province standing at below 80 per cent."Infrastructure development has also been a problem due to the procurement process,” Bosenibamwe said, warning that it could affect the implementation of other projects.  "There is lack of proper planning. Leaders sign performance contracts without a clear game plan,” he said.The meeting also charted ways of improving agriculture production through adoption of modern farming. Local leaders reported some seeds were distributed late which affected the planting.In Gicumbi District, for example, out of the planned 3,000 hectares of millet, only half has been planted due to delayed delivery of seeds. Bosenibamwe said performance targets should be clustered so that each allocated group works hard to implement their respective beat.Samuel Sembagare, the mayor of Burera District, said they started project implementation late but the main challenge has been that of development partners who delayed to take up their planned activities. "We are on track to implement the set targets and are optimistic that we will achieve our targets,” Sembagare said. It was also observed that poor communication and mobilisation among local leaders is affecting projects implementation. The governor also urged local leaders to promote hygiene in their respective districts, mobilise residents to settle in planned settlements, and use chemical and organic manure to boost agriculture.