By MEMORY YOMBWE –
RESIDENTS of Chinanda Village and surrounding area in Mansa have appealed to Government to sink boreholes in their community to mitigate the critical water shortages in the area.
The Chinanda community is one of the heavily populated villages that are in the outskirts of Mansa District in Luapula Province but villagers have lacked clean drinking water for years.
Jennifer Mwila one of the residents said the community has only one hand borehole sunk by Government although it was currently providing dirty water because of rust.
“We have a problem of water, because we have no boreholes, or streams nearby, while the hand pump is old and rust and no one wants to use it because the water is dirty, maybe they should change the pipes,” she said.
“We are, therefore, appealing to Government through our area Member of Parliament Chitalu Chilufya to consider sinking more boreholes here.”
Patrick Kaselekela, another resident in the area echoed similar sentiments, saying that water problem had been their source of concern for many years.
Mr Kaselekela said the community sat on a plateau where it was difficult for them to sink wells that could have water throughout the year as they dried every dry season.
“As you can see, the village is very big and we have a large population, so we need more than 12 boreholes where we can be drawing our drinking water.
“During dry season like now, our wives walk long distances to fibale dambo, where they draw water from shallow wells which is also contaminated and not safe to drink, and in many cases we experience diarrheal cases, especially among the children,” Mr Kaselekela said.
Gloria Chishimba noted that apart from lack of clean water, there was need for the area to be provided with a health centre to cater for the growing population.
“We really have a challenge in issues to do with health because there is no clinic nearby. The only clinic that we go to is Buntungwa in Mansa town. And when someone falls sick at night it is really a problem,” he said.

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Wear IDs, Zesco workers told

By SUNITTA CHILAKA  –
RESIDENTS of Pamodzi Township have expressed concern over Zesco Limited employees working without identity cards.
Zesco Limited electricians last week were in Pamodzi working on the poles which had faults that resulted into low power supply in homes.
Residents, however, expressed concern at the electricians who did not have identity to show that they were Zesco employees as they just used word of mouth to identify themselves when they entered their homes.
“They came to my house to check on power supply, but they did not have work suits or identity cards, so, I had to ask them who they were,” said Mrs Chalwe.
She said Zesco Limited electricians must wear identity cards with their names written on them and work suits for easy identification.
Another resident only identified as Musonda said; “it is difficult to allow Zesco workers in our homes, because we cannot identify them. How do you tell, anyone can claim to be from Zesco and yet they have a hidden agendas, otherwise you end up allowing strangers in homes.”

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Lusaka Water kicks  off K3m Chainda installation works

By MWANGALA LISELI –
LUSAKA Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) has started the installation works of a new water network at a cost of K3 million in Chainda Township.
LWSC public relations manager Topsy Sikalinda said the company was doing a complete overhaulof the water system to improve service delivery in the area.
Mr Sikalinda said this in an interview that the project, which started earlier last month, is expected to benefit more than 20,000 people.
“We have moved into Chainda, we are doing a complete overhaul of the system, installing a new water network in that area,” Mr Sikalinda said.
Mr Sikalinda said the company would put up a water stipulation system which would enable people access water supply.
The water utility firm has also installed an elevated reservoir that would enable storage of water to supply in the area.
The measure would lead to reduced water-borne diseases in the community and would enable people, especially the girl-child to spend more time in class than fetching water.
Mr Sikalinda announced that Kaunda Square was also another township where LWSC had put up a water stipulation system and it no longer faced water shortages but rather are complaining of too much water in the area.
He said LWSC would, however, soon put up prepaid meters in the area under phase two to correct the situation.
Mr Sikalinda said the tender was already running to procure 10,000 prepaid meters to be installed under the phase two project.
He said the company was also working on some sanitation projects like Lusaka Water Supply Sanitation and Drainage project worth US$355 million which would help improve water supply and sanitation in Lusaka Province and would benefit 1.2 million people.

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Luanshya council to engage residents in town growth

By CHATULA KAMPO –
THE Luanshya Municipal Council has said it will involve residents as it embarks on series activities in developing the town in line with the new decentralised policy.
The Decentralisation Policy was launched in February last year by Republican President Michael Sata and was approved by the Cabinet.
Plans were announced at the just ended Local Government week with aim to promote people’s participation in development, democratic governance and local natural resources management.
Public relations manager Gideon Thole said in a statement that the local authority would embark on activities that would enable residents take part in developing Luanshya.
During the Local Government week under the theme ‘Taking Local Government to the Community’, Mr Thole said the local authority hosted an exhibition on various services being offered and conducted road shows to sensitise the people.
He said the council showcased its service delivery mandate and how the provision of services could be improved and sustained using the support from residents.
Mr Thole, however, urged resident and stakeholders to take keen interest in implementing the decentralisation policy, saying, it was the only way that could resolve problems faced by the local authority.
He said if the policy was well-implemented, it would promote transparency and downward accountability of the Government to local communities.
Mr Thole said the local authority was commending the central Government for its continued support in implementing the policy.