The Eastern Province has started planning for the financial year 2015-2016, a move authorities say is aimed at improving performance.

This was disclosed during a one-day consultative meeting of all stakeholders in the province and representative from various government ministries.

Some of the issues discussed in the meeting include poor housing system, scarcity of clean water, and the need for general improvement of infrastructure in the province.

Odette Uwamariya, the Governor of the province, said it was better to plan for the future now, noting that it helps to assess the needs in time.

She said the province was aiming at higher agriculture productivity and industrialisation and they would plan toward that in the next fiscal year starting July next year.

"We must forecast and coordinate all activities at all levels…the central government and local authorities. This is the essence of decentralisation including the function,” she said.

Uwamariya challenged district mayors to work hard to improve the livelihood of the people.

"Infrastructure development has been decentralised…productivity remains the main concern. We need to increase industrial development, so as to be able to create 2,000 jobs per year on non-agriculture activities. The bottom line is to combat poverty and allow people to invest,’’ Uwamariya said.

"It’s high time we started thinking about constructing storeyed houses. Scattered houses will end up taking all the land we have,’’ Uwamariya warned.

The discussions were also attended by State Minister for Water and Energy, Germaine Kamayirese, who called upon the province to focus on implementing the planned settlement programme to ensure that infrastructure development benefits many.