THE DAY CHOLERA WAR SHUT BUSINESSES IN LUSAKA CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
...as President Lungu castigated Lusaka Mayor Wilson Kalumba and his team for failing the people
AN UNUSUAL atmosphere yesterday characterised Lusaka’s Central Business District (CBD) as businesses shut their doors to the public, with scores of marketeers, shop owners, and other well-meaning citizens joined the defence forces in cleaning the town centre following President Edgar Lungu’s directive to beef up preventive measures to eradicate the spread of cholera which has so far claimed 42 lives.
The army closed markets and bus stations in the early hours of yesterday, forcing drivers to offload passengers from undesignated areas with traffic into town restricted to using certain routes in readiness for the clean-up which lasted the whole day.
Makeshift trading facilities erected by traders along Cairo, Lumumba, Los Angeles, Mumbwa, and surrounding roads were removed as drainages were opened, unblocked, and disinfected.
Speaking when he toured Soweto Market in the afternoon, President Lungu said his heart was bleeding with the current state of affairs in the market places were food was being sold saying with such pathetic sanitary conditions characterising most trading spaces, the health of Zambians was not guaranteed.
He said while other people may be inconvenienced by stringent measures that Government would put in place to address the sanitary situation in Lusaka which may see some trading places closed permanently, such measures were inevitable if the lives of Zambians were to be safe-guarded.
“Some people will have to lose their livelihood but we do hope that we will rehabilitate some of these places into better sanitary situations. My heart bleeds because when you see what we have seen today, it’s not like human belongs live here.
“It’s as if it is not human beings trading here but this is where our food comes from but when you see the conditions here, how safe are we? I hope that our colleagues will work according to schedule and in seven days or so, we must rehabilitate the place and those who will be affected, please bear with us because we have no choice. A few damages will be done. Losses will be there,” President Lungu said.
He said Government will have to make hard decisions to ensure that the cholera epidemic is brought under control, adding that unplanned structures and undesignated trading places were responsible for the current crisis the city was grappling with.
“I hope all these challenges will end when we try to upgrade the market with planned innovations coming. I must admit that there has been failure in this respect and going forward, we must take draconian measures to ensure that we bring the situation to sanity and hard decisions will have to be made.
“Obviously, we will have to eradicate and remove some people from their trading areas forever and we have to remove unplanned structures without compensation of course so that we bring about proper drainage and also ensure that we get the right facilities for disposal of human waste,” he said.
He grilled Lusaka mayor Wilson Kalumba and his team as having failed the people, describing him as sleeping on duty, a year after being ushered into office and also wondered where the health inspectorate team was.
“We can’t take this as business as usual. We have to take serious measures. We want to know where the local authority, the mayor and the team are. They have been around for a year now. We elected them in 2016. They should have woken up and done something about it,
“Where were they all this time? We have spent a lot of money in trying to bring modern markets but they have been overcome and overwhelmed by unplanned structures by the road sides and the drainage –there are structures there. It can’t be allowed like that. Where is the inspectorate and the public health? They have all gone to sleep,” he lamented.
And the Local Government Association of Zambia (LGAZ) says it welcomes the timely and necessary interventions by President Lungu to involve the military in preventing further spread of cholera.
LGAZ president Christopher Kang’ombe said
the steps taken by President Lungu were necessary to save lives and keep the city clean.
Mr. Kang’ombe said as a preventive measure, his association had also directed its members to undertake clearing of historical waste in most unplanned settlements.
This would also involve unblocking of drainages in all townships and unplanned settlements, provide acceptable health standards for trading in all markets as well as bus stations, and provide running water and chlorine in all public toilets used in bus stations, bars, and markets.
“The steps are necessary to save lives in the capital city and LGAZ is appealing to the street vendors and marketeers in Lusaka to offer maximum support as the military joins the City Council in cleaning public places and stops trading in dirty areas.
“In order to fight Cholera, the levels of sanitation must be enhanced by all stakeholders in both trading places like markets and in unplanned settlements across the country. The fight to stop or prevent further spread of cholera will not be won if there is no personal hygiene by all of us Zambians. Our garbage is our responsibility at a personal level,” Mr. Kang’ombe said.
Meanwhile, UPND chairperson for health Christopher Kalila says his party appreciates the interventions taken by Government in trying to mitigate the scourge but called for action from all relevant authorities and stakeholders.
Dr. Kalila said it was sad that cholera had become a perennial challenge even when people knew that the disease was spread by poor sanitary conditions.
He said his party was committed to partnering and supporting all those who were involved in the fight against the outbreak.
“We note the measures and interventions being implemented by the Government including the spot visit to Garden compound by the President and his statement to upgrade townships in Lusaka. We hope this pronouncement will be backed by action by the relevant ministries in the shortest period of time.
“However, we are saddened by the perennial occurrence of cholera in Lusaka and other parts of the country even when we know the root causes such as lack of safe and clean drinking water and sanitation, poor drainages, unsanitary trading practices that include the sale of food stuffs in undesignated areas and policies that promote unregulated street vending,” Dr. Kalila said.
He said his party represented an alternative healthcare strategy premised on primary health care which emphasised prevention and not cure.
“We in the UPND would like to reaffirm our unwavering commitment to work with all stakeholders to stop this cholera outbreak,
“We would like to assure the citizens that we represent an alternative healthcare strategy that will be premised on primary healthcare that emphasises prevention rather than cure,” he said.