COUNCIL PLEDGES TO RESTORE SANITY IN CBD
By KALOBWE BWALYA LUSAKA central business district (CBD) will soon have no streets vendors while heaps of garbage will be a thing of the past as plans are underway by the council to effect measures and ensure sanity in the city.
Lusaka mayor Wilson Kalumba said the council would soon fulfil its pledges to widen the allies to accommodate over 5,000 street vendors and would engage stakeholders to efficiently collect garbage within the Central Business District (CDB)
Mr Kalumba told a media briefing yesterday that contrary to claims by some sections of society that LCC had failed, all programmers the local authority pledged were still in the pipeline.
Mr Kalumba assured the vendors that the expansion of allies would soon start as the Road Development Agency (RDA) had appointed a contractor who would soon move on site to undertake the exercise.
Mr Kalumba said the allies had been abandoned for years and were not serving their intended purpose and had instead been turned into toilets and garages.
He however warned some businessmen who had started conducting business in the allies that the local authority would not hesitate to remove them because they were earmarked for expansion.
He said the allies would be expanded, paved and toilets would be provided. Gates would be installed and the trading period will be observed, although the allies would not be a permanent trading area.
The mayor further warned that after the vendors are relocated, no vending will be allowed in CDB, especially in Chachacha, Cairo and Freedom Way as Zambia police would be deployed to keep vigil.
“Vending will not be tolerated after the re-location of vendors in allies and will ensure that we deploy more state police to keep vigil, but for now I have no place to take them and there is nothing I can do until I find them a place that’s when they can move.
“Just the other day when we pulled down the kiosks people complained bitterly that was their livelihood was disturbed but as council we are working very hard to make Lusaka an attractive place, despite the influx of people,” said Mr Kalumba.
Meanwhile, Mr Kalumba has said the issue of garbage in the city is a big problem which needed concerted efforts as the levels of garbage had surpassed the council’s capacity to collect garbage it.
He said the local authority has been facing challenges in garbage collection due to the increase by residents failing to subscribe and remit fees to sustain the operations of the council.
He advised the general public to take interest and understand how decisions were made in the council to ensure that it delivered good service to the people, instead of rushing to criticism.
“The problem we have in Lusaka is that people disregard the bylaws especially those dealing with littering and sanitation, and there is a limit to sensitise the public concerning littering and how to keep their surroundings clean, therefore people should be willing to change their mindset if Lusaka was going to be garbage free.