Kitwe council irks motorists

POOLS of water in potholes in the central business district of Kitwe have continued to expose the local authority’s alleged inertia, which has seen it concentrate more on harassing hawkers and collecting levies from marketeers at Chisokone market.

Motorists and pedestrians told the Daily Nation that the Kitwe City Council (KCC) had continued to lose public confidence because of its pathetic service delivery.

KCC public relations manager Roy Kuseka admitted that a number of roads had potholes but promised that the council would to work on them after the rains subsided.

One of the motorists, John Mbewe said potholes, like the ones at the traffic lights opposite Standard Chartered Bank, were so inconveniencing even to pedestrians. In the second class trading area, motorists were struggling to drive through the potholes. "I can tell you that the roads in Kitwe have bigger potholes like a blocked drainage system. When it rains, it is hell. Look at the pools of water, what is that? We don't hate the council, but we get irritated by its conduct."Where was the council for it to allow small potholes to grow that big? If the council was caring and responsible, it would have been fixing these potholes. The problem with the council is that its interest is to grab goods from hawkers and collect levies from marketeers," Mr. Mbewe said.

And a pedestrian who struggled to cross Oxford Avenue, on her way to Nkana West, complained that she had difficulty with the water pool at the traffic lights near Standard Chartered Bank. Sharon Mutale said KCC’s presence should be felt by its works, instead of creating problems in the city.

"This council should be ashamed to collect levies, land rates and other things from the people because in our judgment, it is delivering pathetic services,” Ms Mutale said.

But Mr. Kuseka promised that KCC would on the potholes after the rains subsided.

He said the council had all needed materials but was waiting for the rains to subside before it could start the works.