TASINTHA BUILDING OCCUPANTS CRY FOUL

SOMEworkers and tenants at Tasintha buildings along Malambo Road in Lusaka have complained of what they termed as harassment by an investor whom they alleged has bought the building.

The tenants have accused the Tasintha board of selling the property to an Indian investor who was in the process of evicting them from the building they had been occupying for more than 13 years.

One of the affected workers, Mr Moffat Ngondwe, narrated that the board wrote to the tenants urging them to vacate the building because it was earmarked for renovations.

Mr Ngondwe explained that the tenants were given up to June 30, this year to vacate the premises but to their surprise, an investor had been “harassing” them staying that he has bought the building at a huge amount.

He said before the pronouncement, the board revised rentals several times within a short period.

Mr Ngondwe said that some companies had already vacated the premises, leaving workers redundant because the investor has demarcated the premise where he has started building residential flats.

Another worker, Mr John Saili, said that the action was contrary to President Edgar Lungu’s stance that Zambia was not for sale.

Mr Saili said that it was unfortunate that citizens were being treated as second class by the foreigners.

He wondered how the investor was allowed to build residential flats in an industrial area and called on President Edgar Lungu to intervene in the matter.

An eviction letter obtained by Daily Nation a stated that the board of trustees wished to change the face of Tasintha premises and that tenants should vacate the premises at the earliest convenience not later than June 30, this year.

The letter was signed by Tasintha chairperson of the board Professor Nkandu Luo.

One of the occupants, who refused to be named for fear of victimization, said that more than 500 employees risk losing their jobs as it will be difficult to relocate business. He said paying redundant packages to employees on the other hand would be too costly if they evict the premises.

He said most of the businesses had been inconvenienced because the investor had fenced the area blocking the entry of the premises.

But when contacted for a comment, Prof Luo refuted the claims by the tenants that the building had been sold.

She said the place could never be sold because it was a fund-raising venture for women projects across the country.

Prof Luo, who is Livestock and Fisheries Minister, accused the tenants of failing to pay rentals.