LCC TARGETS ILLEGAL MONEY BOOTHS

MOBILE money transfer booths that have been mounted in undesignated places especially in the central business district (CBD) will be removed because they are a nuisance to the public, Independence Ward councillor George Daka has said.

Mr Daka said in an interview on Tuesday it was a challenge that most booths were being erected in the night without consulting the Lusaka City Council.

Mr Daka said he would soon convene a meeting with the three mobile telecommunications companies to agree on where their booths should be placed.

He said the mobile money transfer booths should be located in one place for security and ease regulation, failure to which they would be removed.

The council was doing everything possible to regulate the location of the mobile money booths to avoid people erecting them anyhow/.

The booths should instead be located close to places of convenience like public toilets and waste disposal facilities.

Mr Daka, who is chairperson in charge of health at LCC, said the local authority was concerned about the increase in the number of illegal mobile booths. He said the council was currently not collecting any levies from the mobile money booth operators because most of them were operating illegally. “Money mobile operators should visit LCC offices so that they are given suitable and appropriate places around the city where to place their booths. Therefore all illegal booths will be removed,” Mr Daka said.

Last month about 153 mobile money booths erected in CBD, were remove by the Lusaka City Council and those in undesignated places.