Mansa Municipal Council in Luapula Province has issued a 21- day ultimatum to families that have settled on its shut grave yard in Kapesha area along Chembe Road.
The Council has also given a 14 -day deadline to vendors trading along all the roads in the district to relocate to designated markets.
Mansa Town Clerk, Bwanga Kapumpa issued the directives today in an interview with
ZANIS saying it was a health hazard and illegal for people to settle on the cemetery as it was still fresh since it was shut in 1989.
He said the 50 years time frame had not yet elapsed for any future settlement there
as per stipulation.
Mr. Kapumpa complained that the settlers were now digging wells and pit latrines for
water and sanitation there.
He warned them to vacate and find an alternative area where to settle within the given deadline before the Council forcefully demolished their houses.
And a check by ZANIS at the graveyard revealed that the settlers had build houses alongside the graves at the old council Cemetery.
And Mr. Kapumpa said the relocation of traders comes in the wake of increased road
accidents in the area involving traders by the roadsides and Government’s policy on
relocating them in designated markets to bring sanity within town centre.
He said traders trading along the roads were exerting pressure on traffic resulting in accidents that have continued to claim lives.
Mr. Kapumpa confirmed that the local authority has rehabilitated and built enough
markets in the area and that there was no need for traders to continue trading from
alongside the roads. He warned that those defying the directives would be
prosecuted.
Over the weekend, two people died after being hit by a vehicle along Kawambwa Road.ÂÂ
ZANIS
Are we struggling for land that badly that Zambian Citizens have no alternative but to settle on an old graveyard????…Do the Mansa authourities not have the power to allocate these people land???..