THE revelation that an investor is planning to turn Mansa Batteries of Luapula Province into a shopping mall makes sad reading.
This is because the country is in dire need of a vibrant manufacturing base than anything else.
Yes, the machinery at Mansa Batteries could be obsolete, but something can be done to revive the only surviving industry in the province.
We all remember how the equipment at Baluba Mine in Luanshya was totally archaic when China Nonferrous Metals Company Limited took over the facility from Enya Holdings.
However, the investor had to replace the machinery with the latest state-of-the-art  equipment and jobs were secured and more were created.
We cannot continue to have shopping malls whose merchandise are imported because this would eventually kill the hope of expanding the manufacturing industry.
It is sad that the country continues to import anything from toothpicks to clothing, ending up locking its population into a consumer economy hence the economic pressure being faced today.
Some of the problems the country is facing today are as a result of having more imports than exports, so instead of changing the status quo, we want to continue aggravating the situation.
Moreover, in his speech to the National Assembly, President Edgar Lungu called for creation of a manufacturing plants in each district, but information that Mansa Batteries was being turned into a shopping mall defeats the whole purpose.
Having a manufacturing company outweighs the benefits of having a shopping mall whose goods are all imported.
Moreover, the chain stores are given some tax concessions which make them pass less or no tax.
The only benefit worth talking about having a shopping mall is the creation of, not even decent jobs, compared to an industry which can employ several people directly and indirectly.
Of course beauty is another benefit of having a shopping mall, but which is better, glamour or wealth? Well, beauty can come after wealth.
If anything, there is plenty of land which the investor can be given to build a shopping mall than turning such an industry into trading market.
Some investors dealing in shopping malls shouldalso be be questioned on why they do not construct their infrastructure, but are always in a hurry to grab what is already standing.
We, therefore, support all those against the creation of a shopping mall in Mansa, moreover, the district has a good number of both local and foreign chain stores.