By DAVID KANDUZA –

THE Ndola City Council has said it will soon engage tourism experts on how best it can tap into one of the Copperbelt’s tourism sites, Lake Chilengwa.
According to statistics made available to Sunday Times Lake Chilengwa is a sunken lake with sloping sides and a depth of about thirty four metres. It was formed by the collapse of rock into an underlying limestone cavern and has local cultural significance.
Council public relations manager, Roy Kuseka during the week that despite Lake Chilengwa being located in Chief Chiwala’s area, he still believed that domestic tourism could not flourish without the active participation from local authorities.
Mr Kuseka was reacting to calls by Copperbelt residents who suggested that Government should come up with a policy that would compel all local authorities to be active players in the tourism industry to produce communities that were tourism conscious at the basic level.
He said that was the more reason in 2014 the Tourism Board of Zambia included Ndola City Council on the Zambian delegation to the tourism indaba meeting in Durban, South Africa.
It was through interactions with various municipalities drawn from South Africa, where lessons were learnt and one that stood out was that of local municipalities having a legislative mandate to oversee and drive domestic tourism programmes.
Arising from this arrangement, local authorities had, within their respective manpower establishments, skilled personnel in tourism related fields to run tourism activities in residential areas.
“One of the touristic items included in our presentation was the Lake Chilengwa,” Mr Kuseka said.
A visit by Sunday Times to Lake Chilengwe confirmed one key characteristic of the lake, its ability to change its water colour.
Early in the morning the water is green with mist above it and in the evening it becomes clear.
Folktales in the surrounding area talk about the presence of a mythical creature that has the capacity to bring either good or bad luck depending on the state of the spirit of someone seeing it.

Bangweulu gets digital learning centre

By DELPHINE ZULU  –
AFRICAN Parks has launched the Zedupad Self-Learning Education Centre in the remotest area at Chiundaponde Primary School in Bangweulu Wetlands Northern Province.
The centre has been equipped with 40 educational tablets pre-loaded with the Zambian educational curriculum for grades one to seven along with 12,000 lessons in eight local languages and English.
The launch would significantly boost the education levels of 780 students who suffer a drastic shortage of trained teachers due to the remoteness of the school.
African Parks communications manager, Cynthia Walley said the solar-powered Zedupad centre, a teacher, and the 40 digital tablets were funded by a grant of US$25,000 from BASF Holdings South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
The Zedupads contain conservation education material about Bangweulu Wetlands.
The package also contains information on efforts being implemented by African Parks to conserve endemic species like the black Lechwe and the shoebill to ensure the sustainability of fish resources for the benefit of local communities.
“Each tablet costs approximately $200 and every student will have access to the device for 40 minutes a day,” she said.

‘Fake’ pastors irk City Market traders

By THANDIWE MOYO  –
TRADERS at City Market in Lusaka have complained about roving pastors who are demanding a lot of money after conducting prayers.
The traders said that most pastors who paraded themselves to preach the word of God did not end at spreading the word of God but usually ask for large amounts of money as offerings an indication that they were preaching in exchange for money.
“We do not want fake pastors around this area and thus we are calling on the Lusaka City Council (LCC) to intervene since most people are being robbed in broad daylight,” said Mwangala Chomba, a trader.
The traders complained that they were suspicious of the said pastors who are concentrating on making money through offerings.
Ms Chomba said she wondered why pastors had to preach and create prayer sessions in the area and later demand undisclosed amounts of money as offering.
She said it was disheartening that young energetic men could not find jobs but opt to pose as pastors instead of working.
She said the pastors were also asking for money from traders if they wanted their businesses to grow.

Namununga Basic School pupils complain of ill-treatment 

By THANDIWE MOYO  –
PUPILS at Namununga Basic School in Chibombo District have complained about the tendency by some teachers to adminster corporal punishment on pupils at the learning institution.
The pupils said they were living in fear and were not concentrating in class because their teachers were instilling fear in them by whipping and using fists as a way of punishing them each time they were found wanting.
The pupils have called on the Ministry of Education to visit the area and see how poor their performance had become due to continued corporal punishment which pupils are now not able to withstand.
“We are suspecting that most of these teachers are untrained, frustrated  because the kind of punishment they are subjecting us to is very severe. They usually beat us using belts, fists and cage us as if we are remandees,” they said.
Namununga is located in the rural area where there are few schools a situation which has resulted in a number of children dropping out of school as they have to travel long distances to access education.
“Their job should be teaching and to correct pupils when they go wrong. However, kicking pupils especially over small things like wearing a wrong uniform, not wearing shoes, wearing a wrong jersey, not having enough books and reporting late to mention a few is wrong, ”one pupil complained.
The pupils said they walk 12 kilometres from their homes and sometimes arrive at school late but teachers beat them severely for that.

Lusaka motorists cry for security at traffic lights

BY JAJAH COULIBALY  –
MOTORISTS in Lusaka have bemoaned the poor security at most traffic lights, a situation which has seen street kids attack drivers and steal their valuables.
An on spot interview with the drivers who were waiting for the traffic lights to give them way revealed that motorists were being forced to use long alternative routes especially at night because of fear of being attacked.
“The thugs find it easy to attack us, because as you concentrate on the lights most times you forget to lock our vehicle and they open and grab anything they can lay their hands on,” one motorist complained.
The motorists said street kids usually target hand bags, wallets, cellular phones, I pads and other valuables.
“I have seen a lot of incidents here for many years. Some thieves even steal fire extinguishers which they sell to gas companies,” another driver said.
The motorists have since appealed to the police to  patrol places where there are traffic lights at night especially on Independence Avenue near Burma mosque and Lumumba roads.

Zesco gives bar owner 2-week ultimatum

By CHIPEMA SAKAIMBO  –
ZESCO has given a two-week ultimatum to the owner of Willy’s Bar in Lusaka’s Matero East to demolish the extension to the pub.
Zesco spokesperson Henry Kapata said the powerline poses a danger to the people using the bar and thus called for its demolition immediately.
Mr Kapata said if the owner of the bar would not adhere to the power utility’s directive then the electricity firm would soon swing into action.
“If the owner of Willy’s Bar will not follow Zesco’s directive, we will have to demolish the whole grocery which will not be the case if it will be done by the owner in time,” Mr Kapata said.
Mr Kapata said if anyone would be found wanting, they would face the wrath of the law because Zesco had been sensitising people on the dangers of such behaviour.

Kitwe residents welcome Mopani expansion

By DAVID KANDUZA –
KITWE residents have welcomed Mopani Copper Mine’s multimillion-dollar expansion programme which will create thousands of jobs on the Copperbelt.
Joseph Chunga, a former miner and resident of Ndeke Village, said the construction of the new synclinorium, Mindolo and Mufulira Deep Mine shafts would see more jobs being created in the mining sector.
Mr Chunga said the project was a clear demonstration of the confidence that Glencore had in the Zambian economy under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu.
“It just shows that Mopani has confidence in the Government. That is the more reason they have put up this huge investment,” he said.
And Jenipher Haazala said such a huge investment by Mopani shows that there was still hope in the mining industry despite the recent retrenchments.
Ms Haazala said most residents in Kitwe were depressed following the retrenchments that took place last year and hoped that more investments were made to the industry as it played a major role in Zambia’s economy.
During the launch of the ‘Mopani Way’ industrial theatre presentation, residents argued that the decision by mines on the Copperbelt to lay off workers was a step too fast because the low base metal prices were only temporal.
They said the investors should have opted to suffer along with the Zambian workforce while finding other alternatives to cut production costs.
Mopani recently invested US$1.1 billion on the sinking of the  synclinorium shaft at Nkana, and the other two shafts at Mindola and Mufulira.
Chief executive officer, Johan Jansen said the mining firm was committed to the future of the mine’s operations.