By CHATULA KANGALI –
THE Rotary Club of Ndola has handed over a kitchen and laundry unit constructed at a cost of K50,000 to the Orphan Medical Network International (OMNI) Community School in George Township.
The construction of the facility was funded by a former Ndola business executive Yasvant Patel who is currently based in America.
Mr Patel donated the funds for the construction of the facility through the Rotary Club of America as a way of   giving back to the community where he had invested.
Handing over the facility, president Anias  Chulu  said the construction of an ultra  modern kitchen  would  allow the  school that  had  a feeding  programme  to  prepare  food in a good environment.
He said it was important for children  in low  income  communities  to be  given a chance  to  learn and  eat  food  prepared  from a clean environment.
“ This OMNI project  is  not a project  that  will  finish   next  year, this project  is ongoing  and we  want  to see our  children here growing  out of  it. As a club, we have a passion for this school and will continue supporting it,” he said.
School manager, Teddy Kasongo commended the club for choosing to build a kitchen at the learning institution.
He  said from the  time  the  school  started  its  feeding  programme, it had  been facing a lot  of challenges when preparing  food  because  it had  no proper  facility.
“Mothers here used to prepare food from some makeshift structures. The school used to get inconvenienced in the rainy season because classes were disturbed as a result of delayed meals,” he said.
Mr Kasongo added that the school had seen a significant improvement in attendance from the time it introduced the feeding programme.
He said the school had 205 pupils and eight teachers.

Prepare for 2015 crop marketing, FRA urged

By SYLVESTER MWALE –
SOME small-scale farmers have urged the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) to immediately start preparations for the 2015 marketing season to avoid chaos in the crop marketing exercise.
The crop marketing agency has been caught in serious predicament after taking months to pay farmers that had delivered their crop during the marketing season.
However, the Government announced last week that all the farmers have finally been paid and the turbulent period was over.
“It has not been easy for me, from the time I sold my maize in August, I have been waiting and there was no sign that I will get my money,” said Bernard Thole.
“I am happy that the Government has finally released the money although it is late and has affected many farmers in planning for this farming season.”
He said farmers have been subjected to hardships because of the delay in paying them their money.
Maurice Tembo urged the Government put in place necessary measures to ensure that farmers were paid promptly in the next marketing season.
“We have heard that the delay had been necessitated by the fact that the Government did not plan for the extra crop that was purchased.
“But this is now the time to plan so that farmers are not punished by waiting for a long time before they can get their money,” he said.
He said there was also need for the FRA to agree with the banks on the mode of payment to ensure that there was little inconvenience every time the money was released.
Agriculture and Livestock Minister Wylbur Simuusa said recently that the Government had released the last bunch of money to farmers that had delivered their crops to FRA.
The money was to be disbursed to farmers in Eastern, Copperbelt, Luapula, Western and North-Western Provinces.

Mbala State Prison to reopen

By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –
MBALA State Prison which was closed last year following an order from the health inspectors is set to reopen later this year.
Zambia Prisons Service deputy public relations officer Stephen Kagoli said works to improve the sanitary conditions at the prison started last year and were expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.
Mr Kagoli said major rehabilitation works on the cells had been completed and only minor’s works were still remaining.
“At least 80 per cent of the works have already been completed, and there are only a few works left,” Mr Kagoli said.
He said the prison which is undergoing a major facelift once completed would decongest the prisons in the region.
He said the works on the prison had been approved by the ministry of Transport, Works, Supply and Communications and all the construction works had met the requirements of the Health Act. Health inspectors closed Mbala State Prison because it was operating against the provisions of the Public Health Act and sanitation laws last year.
After the closure the inmates were repatriated to Kasama and Luwingu, while a few remained just for security purposes.
The prison used to have inadequate cell space and was highly congested where a 3X3 cell designed to accommodate two inmates was having nine prisoners, violating the Health Act.
There were no lavatories in holding cells, forcing inmates to use buckets to relieve themselves at night.

Garden Township police post takes shape

By SARAH MWANZA –
RESIDENTS of Lusaka’s Garden township have expressed happiness with the pace at which the police post in the area is being constructed.
The police post in the densely populated area was destroyed by angry residents in 2009 after word went round that officers had killed someone after detaining him.
However, the rebuilding started last year through Constituency Development Fund (CDF) under Mandevu Constituency.
Linda Chiluba, a resident said since Government decided to construct a police post in the area last year, residents had seen tremendous progress on the project.
She said so far most works had been done and that only final touches were remaining.
“We were worried that the foundation was going to be an eyesore following the groundbreaking ceremony by the minister who is also our Member of Parliament,” she said.
Patricia Chipili, another resident said people were keenly waiting for the deployment of officers and the official opening of the police post.
She said the area was in need of a police post because it was currently witnessing high levels of crime.
“With the presence of the police, we believe that crime levels will reduce drastically,” he said.
Meanwhile, another resident Mable Mutale has called on the residents to safeguard the police station and not demolish it like they did to the previous one.
She said it was not prudent for residents to vandalise government’s property when they suspected something wrong.
“Residents should not vent their anger on Government by demolishing the new police station constructed in the area,” she said.