RELOCATION OF BUS STATION HALTED
Stakeholders have unanimously rejected attempts to shift the Kazomba Messenger bus station in Solwezi to the new mall.
The motion to shift was defeated when only three people voted for the idea while 51 were against, at a meeting held to discuss the issue.
And tempers flared at the meeting involving the stakeholders, Municipal Council and City Mall management over relocation of Long-Distance Public buses to the Mall.
On Monday last week during a full council meeting, the council approved the relocation of bigger buses to the City Mall.
However, the move had been received with mixed feelings by the general public who called on the local authority to rescind the decision.
And in a heated debate yesterday during the stakeholders meeting, both the council and City Mall management could not agree what should happen.
Council Town Clerk Seke Mbulo said the council received the application early this month and it was subjected to the council subcommittee and later approved by a full council.
‘The council approved the request on basis that this would give them an opportunity to relocate the Kazomba Messenger bus station to the main station because Total Zambia has leased out part of plot No 169 where Kazomba Messenger station is to Real Estate Investment Zambia,’’ he said.
And City Mall centre manager Brian Sichula explained that the basis of the request was for economic reasons in that some shops have closed due to lack of business and hoped that traffic from buses would bring the needed population closer to the shops to keep them in business.
However, Lizzy Tewa a branch manager for Zambia National Building Society said shifting bigger buses to the mall will reduce the beauty and standard of the facility.
‘’There will be a lot of confusion, so to me, I strongly oppose the idea, no bus should be moved to the mall,’’ she said.
And Reverend Naomi Banda of Open Doors Assemblies of God, wondered about the motive behind the passion by City management to offer the car park free of charge.
Meanwhile, Anti-Voter Apathy (AVAP)Project provincial coordinator Cranes Kasito proposed to move the station to the old UBZ yard next to the Zambia National Service offices.