ZAMBIAN BREWERIES AIDS VULNERABLE
ZAMBIAN Breweries has handed over 28 houses in Ndola under the Itawa Springs Protection Project.
The houses were built in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity in Mapalo Township, previously known as Chipulukusu, for the vulnerable that were relocated from the natural spring.
Zambian Breweries Operations Director Franz Schepping said his firm believed in making a better world and taking part in keeping the environment clean.
“We embarked on a project to clean up the Itawa Springs. The restoration allowed us to empower the people that would be affected by the restoration because just as protecting the spring was important, it was also important to care for the families,” Mr Schepping said.
Zambian Breweries gets water for the plant from the Itawa Springs near Itawa residential area and Mapalo.
And Habitat for Humanity Zambia National Director Kanyanta Mukelebai said his organisation believed that every human had a right to better housing and livelihood.
Mr Mukelebai said Habitat would continue building houses for the vulnerable in society.
Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Christopher Yaluma said at the same occasion that the handover of the 28 houses to the underprivileged was a clear indication of a strong bond Zambian Breweries had with the communities around its operations.
“The hand over is a clear testimony of what can be achieved through strong partnerships between corporate entities such as Zambian Breweries, Government, cooperating partners such as Habitat for Humanity, and community based organisations like the Itawa Springs Multi Stakeholder Committee,” he said.
He said Itawa housing project was a great example of what a responsible commercial entity could do in environmental protection.
The minister said he was impressed that the resettlements involved empowering youths in various business ventures like brick-laying and farming close to the source of the spring.
Mr Yaluma said such activities though economically empowering risked the very existence of the natural water at the spring.
He noted that the diversification would help the youths have options on ventures that could help earn them money while the relocation of residents from the site had finally given the first step towards protecting the environment.
Zambian Breweries had invested more than K100, 000 to empower youths through the provision of tools in carpentry, tailoring and catering for them to have better skills of utilising the spring resource.