By REBECCA MUSHOTA –
ZAMBEZI Portland has defended its decision to build 127 houses in Chief Chiwala’s area, saying it is a resettlement plan that was agreed upon with the authorities before the plant was set up.
According to a statement released by the chief executive officer of Zambezi Portland Cement Limited Peter Kanaganayagam, the company had agreed with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) to build houses for people that were displaced during the construction of the plant.
Mr Kanaganayagam said contrary to a Press statement released on Monday titled “Rajan Mahtani falsely claims credit for Zambezi housing project” by people purporting to be Zambezi Portland management, the construction of the housing units had nothing to do with Dr Mahtani claiming credit for the project, but to provide houses.
“The said Press release or article is not from any official company domain and besides being illegal, it has made a number of wild allegations meant to divert attention from the main objective of the project which is to provide housing for the displaced people of Senior Chief Chiwala’s area.
“The sources should desist from using the company domain when making false statements and reports shall be filed with the appropriate criminal authorities,” the statement read in part.
Mr Kanaganayagam said Dr Mahtani, in his speech delivered during the ground breaking ceremony on June 20, stressed that the project was an obligation which Zambezi Portland Cement had to fulfill in consultation with Chief Chiwala and ZEMA.
He said Zambezi Portland Cement was a limited company employing more than 545 people and it was therefore, selfish and lack of foresight on the sources of the illegal article to try and undermine the credibility of the company to satisfy their personal vendetta against Dr Mahtani.
Mr Kanaganayagam said issues referred to in the illegal Press release regarding the shareholding were sub-judicial and the sources were consequently in contempt of court.
Zambezi Portland invested K6.5 million towards the construction of 127 new housing units.
