Indians warned … to remove gates on public roads
THE Indian community has has been given 24 hours to remove illegal gates erected on public roads in Lusaka’s Emmasdale area before the council moves in to demolish the structures, LCC acting public relations manager George Sichimba has warned.
The council said public roads do not belong to any individual, group or community, but can be used by any citizens.
He said it was wrong for the community to put up the gates because the roads did not belong to them and the council will not allow it.
Matero Member of Parliament Lloyd Kaziya, who has waged a war against illegal structures in the constituency was riled over the erecting of gates on public roads by the Indian community.
In an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Sichimba said the council inspected the area yesterday and discovered that the gates were erected without permission from the local authority.
Mr Sichimba said the Indian community have been advised to remove the gates, failure to comply, the council will have no choice but to demolish all the illegal structures that have been raised by the community.
He said the community were not allowed to block or to put a gate on public roads without the authority from the council. The council is the only authority in charge of the roads.
Mr Sichimba said any works being done on the roads or in the community should have a blessings from the local authority because they were the authority.
“We are from inspecting the two gates from Emmasdale and we have discovered that the gates were erected without permission from the council, therefore the council have asked the residents to remove the gates because the council will not allow such lawless acts to continue in the city.
“All works that are being done on the roads should be known by the council, but for these two we have since given them a 24-hour ultimatum to remove the gates failure to which the council will remove everything and the residents will be charged penalty fees,’ said Mr Sichimba.
Mr Sichimba appealed to the residents to ensure that they get permission from the council so that they don’t come in conflict with the law.
“If they will fail to comply with the ultimatum the council will move in by tomorrow(today) and will definitely demolish everything and will not ask them to salvage the materials, but everything will be pulled down, he said. Mr Kaziya who is Minister of Sanitation and Water Development has vowed to demolish all the illegal structures in his constituency which include gates erected on public road and would be soon demolish.
A spot check by the Daily Nation Monday found the road blocked with the security guards at the entrance who did not allow anyone who is not part of the community within the road enter the closed off area.
“It is illegal to put gates on public roads and we will demolish all the illegally erected structures. As an area MP, I will not compromise on that type of illegality. “Actually, we have given them an ultimatum and soon we will bring all the illegal structures down,” Mr Kaziya vowed.
Emmasdale residents of Indian origin have blocked Kawimbe and Lukoma roads by erecting gates which are manned by the security guards. Members of the public are not allowed passage through the closed road without scrutiny by the security guards.