SALUKATULA

By CHATULA KAMPO-
MARINE equipment that Government procured has started arriving, Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary Rose Salukatula has said.
Ms Salukatula said this in Ndola yesterday when Copperbelt Minister Mwenya Musenge complained to her that the commando unit in Ndola, which helps in marine disasters in the province lacked diving equipment.
“We were told that some basic equipment that were procured have since started arriving in the country to help our defence team in times of disaster,” she said.
Ms Salukatula said when she paid a courtesy call on Mr Musenge at his office in Ndola.
The permanent secretary and officials from the ministry of defence headquarters in Lusaka are in the province to check on the developmental projects that were taking place and to see how the defence wings can contribute to national development.
Ms Salukatula said the equipment bought were basic marine equipment that would help officers and troops to address the challenges the country was facing during marine disasters.
The permanent secretary also announced that 75 per cent of the works on the Northern Command Hospital under construction in Ndola’s Itawa area had  done and that an out-patient department at the facility would be opened soon.
She said the opening up of the out-patient department would help increase access to health services to civilians and help decongest Ndola Central Hospital which is the only referral centre in the city.
Ms Salukatula said her ministry would work with the ministry of health to enhance quality health service delivery in military hospitals.
She said it was observed that more civilians were seeking health services from military health facilities than public hospitals and clinics.
Mr Musenge also called on the Ministry of Defence to increase bilateral meetings with their counterparts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on how best to beef up security at the border areas.
He said the border area between Zambia and Congo DRC was too porous, saying this was why  killings and other criminal activities were on the increase.