By CHILA NAMAIKO –

Maamba Collieries Limited (MCL) in Sinazongwe District has handed over 62 new houses to families that were displaced by the construction of its water pipe from Lake Kariba.
The affected families were forced to relocate after the mining firm erected the pipeline which pumps water from  Lake Kariba to the thermal power plant.
The company has spent more than K14 million to build the houses as well as a clinic for the affected families.
MCL chief executive officer Venkat Shankar said the company, through its corporate social responsibility, was committed to meeting the aspirations of the people of Sinazongwe District.
Mr Shankar said other affected individuals were compensated in monetary terms after their houses, land, crops and shops were destroyed at the time of putting up the pipeline for the thermal power plant.
Southern Province Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu said the Government was committed to ensuring that the affected people were compensated to enable them live a happy life.
Mr Mubukwanu, who toured the housing units together with provincial Permanent Secretary Sibanze Simuchoba, expressed happiness with the modern state of the facilities.
Sinazongwe Member of Parliament Richwell Siamunene assured the people in the area that he would continue to lobby for more infrastructure development.
The hand-over was characterised by tears of joy from the beneficiaries as they ululated and performed traditional dances to celebrate the ownership of the newly-constructed houses and a clinic.