INFORMATION and Broadcasting Services Minister, Ronnie Shikapwasha has challenged the media to be proactive and deliver social and economic information to a wide audience in a meaningful and useful way.

Lieutenant General Shikapwasha said in Parliament that the Government would provide an enabling environment in which the media could operate and appealed to the members of Parliament (MPs) to support his ministry's budget.

Gen Shikapwasha said the Government recognised previous observations made by the MPs that it should consider investing more in the public media.

He said to increase media outreach and explain Government's programmes, the ministry was increasing its investment in mobile video vans in the districts where there was a huge information vacuum.

The ministry was decentralising the print media and that in the 2010 national Budget, resources had been set aside for infrastructure development and purchase of accessories for the machines.

Gen Shikapwasha said the linking of ZANIS to a wide area network would help in accessing information from rural areas through the use of an optic fibre cable.

"Funds have been set aside to make ZNBC short-wave reception better, especially during night time and the installation of FM transmitters for rural districts would start to improve radio reception in Zambia," he said.

Contrary to fears on the need for media to regulate themselves, he said the move would help establish minimum principles on ethics, accuracy and personal rights while preserving editorial freedom.

The minister said the Government would soon bring to Parliament names of independent broadcasting authority and ZNBC board of directors for ratification.

Earlier, contributing to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning estimates of expenditure, Bangweulu MP, Joseph Kasongo (PF) called for an audit in the entire ministry to establish how many dead people or those that resigned were still on the payroll.

Mr Kasongo called on the Government to find ways of paying all the retirees that had continued to spend nights in the cold.