By MUNAMBEZA MUWANEI –
THE construction of a maternity wing at Kabushi Clinic in Ndola worth about K1.6million, has started.
The maternity wing will have admission wards for expectant mothers.
Copperbelt provincial medical officer Consity Mwale said the construction of the maternity wing at Kabushi Clinic is part of Government’s programme to upgrade health facilities in the country.
Kabushi Clinic has operated for years without a maternity wing and expectant mothers have been going to the nearby Lubuto Health Centre.
Dr Mwale said the project was being undertaken by Stardy Constructions Limited and the building was nearing completion.
The construction of the maternity wing started last year and the project was supposed to have been completed in March this year but the contractor has written to request for more time to finish the project.
“The contractor has applied for an extension of time which is under consideration by the provincial buildings engineering unit,” he said.
Dr Mwale said another maternity block would be built at Ndeke Clinic at a cost of K1.6million and the construction was expected to start before the end of the year.
Ndola Lime Company and Indeni Petroleum Refinery Company Limited have partnered to build the maternity wing at the clinic.
Of the 88 health posts that Government has allocated to the Copperbelt, eight health facilities would be built in Ndola District.

‘Give HIV/AIDS kids special foods’

By BRIAN HATYOKA –
A NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisation (NGO) working in Livingstone has urged the Government to consider introducing specific nutritional supplements for children living with HIV/AIDS to mitigate malnutrition in the country.
Tutalike Life Begins Early Childhood Education Nutrition Centre coordinator Susiku Mwanang’ombe said there was need for the Government, through the Ministry of Community Development, Mother and Child Health, to introduce nutritional packages for children living with HIV/AIDS to mitigate malnutrition, especially from economically deprived families.
Ms Mwanang’ombe said in an interview in Livingstone, that there was need for clinics and hospitals to provide nutritional supplements to children with HIV as most sick mothers were failing to feed their children.
Ms Mwanang’ombe said some children were dying early not because of diseases but also because their parents were failing to provide them with appropriate food.
She noted that most children living with HIV/AIDS in Ngwenya Township in Livingstone were malnourished as they were coming from families which were economically deprived.
“In Ngwenya Township where I live in Livingstone, most infected children under five years are malnourished.
“We need a specific nutrition programme in clinics and hospitals to help poor and sick mothers who have children living with HIV/AIDS. If possible, Government should prevent such mothers from having children otherwise Zambia will have many children who are not healthy in 10 years’ time,” she said.

State eager to improve sanitation

By SARAH MWANZA –
GOVERNMENT has continued to make major strides in providing improved sanitation and hygiene in rural parts of the country with 16 chiefdoms declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) Zones.
In 2012, the World Bank estimated that Zambia was losing about K946 billion annually as a result of not addressing challenges associated with poor access to sanitation.
The bank further observed that ODF cost Zambia K120 million annually, yet the unhealthy practice could be eliminated by constructing at least 420. 000 lavatories.
Central Province Minister Davies Chisopa, during Chief Chitanda’s ODF celebrations, said Government would continue to work with several stakeholders to achieve the 2030 sanitation target.
“UNICEF is one of the cooperating partners who for a long time have striven to ensure that the Vision 2020 is achieved by helping Government in implementing the Community Led-Total Sanitation,” he said.
UNICEF Zambia Country Representative Hamid El-Bashir Ibrahim said poor sanitation, water and hygiene had many other serious repercussions.
Recently, Government declared three chiefdoms ODF, which are Machiya’s Chiefdom in Mpongwe, Chibale’s area in Serenje and Chitanda in Chibombo District.
Currently, 16 chiefdoms have been declared ODF out of the 286 chiefdoms in Zambia.

Machiya residents demand bridge

By SARAH MWANZA-
RESIDENTS of Chief Machiya’s area have called on Government to expeditiously construct the Machiya Bridge on Kafue River in Mpongwe District to prevent loss of life.
Moses Stabuli said the residents depended on a pontoon to cross to the other side of the river at a fee.
He said residents often got stuck when the pontoon broke down and could risk lives by using banana boats as alternatives.
“We are appealing to Government to construct a bridge across the river so as to prevent people from using banana boats as they were not safe,” he said.
He said many lives had been lost in the chiefdom due to the lack of a bridge, and that Government’s intervention was the only solution,” he said.
Karen Chalwe, another resident said lack of a bridge in the area had hindered development as investors were not willing to set up investment there.
She said it was costly for motor vehicles to cross to the other side of the river as they were charged K120 and paying such an amount on a daily basis was almost impossible.
“It is impossible for an investor to invest in the area knowing that he or she would be required to pay all the time he wants to cross the river,” she said.
Bertha Hadebele said the lack of a bridge had proved costly for local farmers who had to use a pontoon to ferry their produce to the other side of the chiefdom.
Mpongwe acting District Commissioner Godfrey Zimba said plans to put up a bridge were underway.
He said the Road Development Agency (RDA) would soon start constructing the Mpongwe Machiya Road and that’s when the bridge would be constructed as well.

 Shebeens unsettle Kamwala traders

By Adrian Mwanza –

SOME traders in Kamwala have expressed concern over the growing number of shebeens along the Lusaka-Livingstone rail line.
The traders said the shebeens were an eyesore and that they posed a danger to the lives of people who could be run over by a train, while in a drunken stupor.
Douglas Bwalya, a trader said the sale of illicit and opaque beer along the rail line was becoming rampant and affecting his business.
He said people had made makeshift bars with no licences where they were selling beer to other traders.
Mr Bwalya said people risked being killed or run over by trains once they were drunk.
He said it was unfortunate that even the banned Tujilijili had now resurfaced and had found their way into the shebeens.
“Nowadays, even prohibited alcohol like tujilijili has found its way in these shebeens that operate freely,” he said.
Mr Bwalya called on the Lusaka City Council to move in and restore sanity to the area because the situation at present was bad.
Diana Ng’ambi, a second hand clothes trader said the area was not safe anymore, especially for women traders who risked being raped by drunkards.
Ms Ng’ambi said the women usually knocked off late and most of the drunk hoodlums abused them verbally and at times even made advances.

Lusaka garbage worries PS

BY ADRIAN MWANZA –

LUSAKA Province Permanent Secretary Sturdy Mwale has bemoaned the rampant accumulation of garbage in the city’s Central Business District.
Mr Mwale said there was need to find a lasting solution to the problem because Lusaka no longer looked like the capital city of Zambia.
He said the issue of garbage collection could not be dealt with by one individual or institution but a collection of stakeholders.
Mr Mwale said the issue of garbage was very alarming and that some roads were even blocked by the garbage. e said it was unfortunate that councillors had failed to utilise funds like the ward fund, which could be used to remove garbage in their respective wards.
He said he would engage other stakeholders like the Zambia National Service (ZNS), Zambia Prisons Service and the business community to ensure that they won the fight.  And Lusaka Town Clerk Alex Mwansa said the local authority had joined forces with private individuals and created the solid waste management team.
He said LCC on its own had no capacity to effectively conduct garbage collection because they did not have adequate equipment.
And Lusaka Deputy Mayor Potipher Tembo said most councillors failed to utilise ward funds because they feared victimisation from organisations like the ACC.

500 pre-paid meters set for Kabwe Police camps

BY SYLVIA MWEETWA –

THE  LUKANGA  Water  and  Sewerage  Company (LWSC) will this  month install 500 prepaid meters in Kabwe’s Kasanda and Kabwe Police  camps aimed  at  improving water supply.
However, some Police officers talked to felt that, while the pre-paid meter installation was welcome, they were more interested in the urgent repair of broken water pipes in their camps.
The water utility’s public relations officer, King Syacika said the company would start the pre-paid meter installation this month, starting with the Police camps following complaints raised over water bills.
In an interview, Mr Syacika said once the prepaid meters were  installed, it would resolve  some concerns raised by those  residing in the two camps as  the interest was  to ensure the residents were only charged for  what they used.

Katondo cries for Police protection

BY SYLVIA MWEETWA –
RESIDENTS of Katondo Township in Kabwe District have cried for Police protection following  the increased cases of burglary and killings in the area.
The residents talked to said it was dreadful that  the attackers were only targeting the poor and  wondered why Police had stopped conducting foot patrols.
Mr Jackson Lungu, who spoke on behalf of other residents, claimed that the continued attacks on innocent residents should be stopped by law  enforcers because it was their responsibility.
Mr Lungu said some people had been beaten to death  by unknown people who had not been arrested because  the Police had failed to patrol the areas and warned that it might result in people taking the law into their  own hands if the situation did not improve

Misisi water blues pose typhoid threat

By SAM PHIRI –

RESIDENTS of Lusaka’s Misisi Township have been hit by inadequate water supply forcing women to risk their lives as they go to queue for the commodity at a communal tap as early as 04: 00 hours in the morning.
But some women who were found queuing for water have resorted to getting water from some visibly unsafe shallow wells putting themselves at risk of contracting diseases like Typhoid.
Nelly Kibuku one of the residents found fetching water from a shallow well said she and many of her colleagues feared for their lives as the ritual murders and rape cases had become rampant.
“Some women have been raped by unknown persons in the early hours of the morning as they go to look for water but they can’t report to the police because they fear their marriages would end,” she said.
A check by Sunday Times in the early hours of the morning revealed that some men enjoying an opaque brew in rather unhygienic drinking places, while women and children were busy pushing wheelbarrows laden with containers of water. Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) public relations manager Topsy Sikalinda said apparently Misisi was one of Lusaka’s townships which have a service line with a 24-hour water supply from the Kafue treatment plant.
Mr Sikalinda said only 2,000 of the targeted clients had been connected so far.  Misisi Township has an estimated 80,000 population, most of them living on less than a dollar per day such that a thought of paying for a connection fee for water supply does not immediately arise.