POOR SECURITY DENTS PROFIT - SHOPPING MALLS

RISING incidents of theft in car parks has impacted negativiely on the business in some shopping malls.

Shoppers are reportedly shunning some malls for fear of petty thieves who are breaking into cars and stealing their valuables.

And now Lusaka City Council (LCC) is partnering with police to try and end the scourge.

According to LCC Public relations manager George Sichimba, of late, the council had been receiving complaints from mall managements that the scourge was affecting their businesses as shoppers were shunning their malls for fear of petty thieves.

Mr Sichimba said LCC had involved Zambia Police Service to work in collaboration with security personnel at malls to deal with the matter. “In the meantime, motorists are advised to be vigilant and make sure that car doors are locked before proceeding to do their businesses. The valuables left in vehicles should be hidden to avoid attracting unnecessary attention from petty thieves,” said Mr Sichimba.

And a Lusaka resident has urged the council to increase the number of police officers to curb thieving in shopping malls and other shopping centres. Mercy Cheembo said shoppers were losing valuables from their vehicles in car parks each time they went shopping.Ms Cheembo said the situation was getting out of hand because criminals were breaking into cars in broad daylight. She said though the council had involved Zambia Police Service to curb thefts in shopping malls and other shopping centres, more still needs to be done to completely stop the vice.