LGAZ pleads for positive reporting
By KELVIN SIABANA, JOSSY CHAIMA and ROGERS KALERO THE Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) has urged the media to focus more on reporting about the success stories recorded in the various local authorities in all parts of Zambia unlike dwelling much on negativity.
LGAZ president Christopher Kang’ombe said the media was key in pushing the agenda forward for various local authorities hence
Mr Kang’ombe said the media is the major partner of the association in terms of development because without it information cannot be conveyed effectively to the public.
He said the media could criticise the local authority but in a positive way by providing solutions not just concentrating on the grounds of negativity.
He said the media was a powerful tool in any part of the world because the public perceived the information disseminated by the media be it true or false as gospel truth.
Mr Kang’ombe has appealed to the public relations departments in all the councils in Zambia to work in collaboration with various media houses in Zambia by highlighting the development projects being undertaken by the local authorities.
“LGAZ is a voice for the local government in the country and currently there are close to 109 members due to the new districts which have been created in Zambia,” Mr Kang’ombe said. He said the media was free to engage the association on the round table and play an advisory role in areas where the councils who are members of LGAZ were not meeting the expectations of the public.
Mr Kang’ombe said the local authorities respects the media in Zambia and there is need for them to educate and inform the public about the positive happenings in the councils not only to concentrate on the negative side.
He said the local authorities play a cardinal role in the social and economic development of the country in order for sustainable development to take place.
Meanwhile Patriotic Front Kwacha Member of Parliament Joe Malanji has spent K65, 000 on the construction of a bridge in Ipusukilo Township to improve the drainage system in the area.
Mr Malanji has also assured the people in the area to continue working hard in areas of health, education and security so that the lives of the people in the area were improved.
Speaking yesterday when he commissioned the bridge, Mr Malanji said his desire was to leave Ipusukilo Township better than he had found it. He would soon engage Nkana Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) to improve water supply in the township. He said, apart from engaging NWSC, he was also looking at constructing a 1x10 classroom block at Riverside School and the construction of Mutupa Bridge.