By CHARITY MOONGA –
INFORMATION and Broadcasting Services Minister Chishimba Kambwili has appealed to the Turkish government to support and boost the performance of the three public media institutions and other media houses in Zambia.

. Kambwili

Mr Kambwili said the three public media had continued to face challenges of lack of equipment and motor vehicles, among others in the discharge of their duties due to limitations in resources.
“Talking about ZNBC, our national broadcaster established by an Act of Parliament, we have a number of challenges ranging from obsolete equipment to mobility.
“We hope the donor communities like you can come in and help us address some of these challenges,” Mr Kambwili said.
Mr Kambwili said when he met Turkish Ambassador to Zambia, Ahmet Arda yesterday that the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), the Times Printpak and the Zambia Daily Mail were facing numerous operational challenges.
The meeting was also attended by Information Deputy Minister Forrie Tembo, Permanent Secretary Godfrey Malama, and other senior ministry officials.
This is contained in a Press statement released by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting services public relations unit.
He noted that the public media wanted to cover the whole country but could not do so because of inadequacy of equipment.
He said the Turkish Ambassador should also explore ways through which his country could help build capacity in Zambian journalists through training by awarding scholarships.
Mr Arda assured Mr Kambwili that his embassy was ready to work with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services to improve the noperations of the three public media institutions.
He said the Turkish Embassy in Zambia would work hard to link the public media to other media institutions in Turkey with the view to further explore other areas of media cooperation.
Mr Arda also assured the minister that his government would also nconsider his request for capacity building in the community radio stations across the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Kambwili has urged Zambian workers to turn up in large numbers and celebrate this year’s Labour Day which falls on May 1.
Speaking to journalists in Lusaka, Mr Kambwili said Zambians should ignore calls by the opposition United Party for National Development to boycott this year’s Labour day celebrations.
Mr Kambwili said it would be irresponsible for anybody not to celebrate Labour Day as it was an important day for all the workers.