The hotel, catering, tourism and allied workers union of Zambia (HCTAWUZ) has cried foul over the preparations to host the forth-coming United Nations World Tourism Organisation conference in Livingstone.
The union says that there is need to see tangible preparations in the tourist city as the country draws close to co-hosting the event with Zimbabwe in Victoria Falls town in August this year.HCTAWUZ Secretary General Michelo Chizyuka is worried that the bed capacity in Livingstone remains the same and has not increased for a long period of time.
He said this in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone last week.
Mr Chizyuka wondered where the money for the preparations had gone and what it has been used for as works on the ground cannot be seen with only a few months to go before the hosting of the global event.
[pullquote]The only thing we have seen is that permanent secretaries have been touring and their tours have had no results or impact[/pullquote] “We want to see tangible preparations, I have been away but each time I come back I don’t see the impact of the preparations being talked about and the roads are still in a bad state as though the town is not preparing for the UNWTO general assembly,” he said.
He has bemoaned the lack of the union involvement in the preparations saying it should have at least 50 per cent involvement in the preparations of the conference.Mr Chizyuka said that the union feels sidelined by both national and local organising committees.
“The union is supposed to be part of this issue, 50 percent is our take in the preparations, we are able to pass on the basics that the tourists expect,” he said.
He claimed that the media reports were misleading the people as they were portraying that Livingstone is fully prepared to host the prestigious UNWTO when in fact not. He said that the biggest problem was the lack of coordination for the preparations noting that the UNWTO should have been the stepping stone for the development of tourism for Livingstone.
“The only thing we have seen is that permanent secretaries have been touring and their tours have had no results or impact,” he said.
[ZANIS]
PF are incompetent nutters!
Silvia masebo has already plundered.
GREEDINESS WILL KILL PEOPLE IN ZAMBIA,IF A PERSON DOES NOT SEE ANY LOOPHOLE FOR THEM STEAL UNWTO MONIES THEY GO TO THE MEDIA AND SAY WE ARE NOT PREPARED.THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY AND WE NEED TO BE FACTUAL.IN TERMS OF BED CAPACITY LIVINGSTONE IS VERY MUCH PREPARED EVEN MORE THAN ZIMBABWE AND CHRISMAR HOTEL HERE IN LIVINGSTONE HAVE PUT IN PLACE MORE BED SPACES TO ACCOMMODATE THE DELEGATES.IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT ALL HOTEL WHICH HAVE BEEN LISTED TO HOST THE DELEGATES ARE WELL AHEAD OF SCHEDULE ,FOR MORE OF INFORMATION VISIT THE ZTB WEBSITE AND THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM WEBSITE INSTEAD OF MAKING UNFOUNDED STATEMENTS.I STAY IN LIVINGSTONE AND VERY INQUISITIVE TO KNOW WHAT GOES AROUND IN MY TOWN.LETS STOP MISLEADING THE NATION AND THE WORLD AS A WHOLE WITH FALSE INFORMATION
which livingstone,dust roads,main road full of holes.
@PINK – when are you people going to learn anything? What is wrong with you Zambians? Is updating a website equivalent to actual tangible progress on the ground? Do you run a hotel or lodge yourself? Please leave some things to intelligent people. You jumping to the defense of government every time someone points out a mistake is being s.t.u.p.i.d. It is only foolish people and .i.d.i.o.t.s like you who want to politicize everything since your brains are so dry that you can’t see life in any other way. How can you even compare Vic Falls to Livingstone? Are you even Zambian you *****? Are the current standards of preparation the best you can offer the international community? Livingstone is dusty and dirty with street vendors and you say you are prepared! Stop being s.t.u.p.i.d!
thats zambia for you. we have plenty of cash in zambia, the only problem is that we do not think of working to uplift the standard of living for all but each one works for his/belly. thats our culture when it comes to money and development.
yet the other day the minister was boasting and claiming to resign if the event flops as if zambian politicians can rresign on moral grounds. before any tangible develoment to come, our mentality needs to change
More allowances zero development equals more money in the pocket
Let the PF govnt show us that it is indeed a working govnt. Sitifuna kungokamba-kamba. Mumakamba zambiri pa nthawi ya kampeni. Akulu- akulu anakamba kale kuti “bwanji mukulephera kugwira nchito amuna inu???? mkazi wabvula kale”. In other ways you were saying once in govnt you will show Zambians that you mean business. (eeh……Chitani akulu…….. mkazi wabvula kale……).
Typical, Nothing will move in that country, because we don’t have sense of pride. See what Zimbabwe will do. I AM SURE THE MONEY IS ALL USED IN CAMPAIGNS FOR LIVINGTONE BY ELECTION. WONDER HOW THEY EVEN GOT THE BID.
What Chizyuka has pointed out is something I feel when I am in Zambia, especially Livingstone (and Lusaka). You step out of a well equipped hotel and you move into a poorly equipped environment. We need a holistic preparation approach; clean up the environment, mend the roads, deodorize the air… etc. It’s not about giving people somewhere to sleep – it is about giving them an enjoyable experience all round! PLEASE!
I am sure Zimbabwe is way ahead of Zambia in preparations for the event. It is not surprising because Zimbabweans are very serious when it comes to tourism. Zambians are mere jokers who should not be allowed to host such important events.
The minister has been saying preparations are on track but we don’t see or hear the actual preparations. Why doesn’t she give us even a simple rundown of what we hope to achieve at the end of these preparations? What is being prepared? How do we participate if we don’t even know the goals? In a working government system, pronouncements should not just end at high level. The lower organs of government ought to kick-in and show us the roadmap for implementation.
Professional thieves are in power. We know them: they talk too much, they are loud, but they are naturally dull and their brains are congenitally empty apart from being tribalistic and stealing. In the almost 50 years since independence, Zambia has never been so diminished in the eyes of the international community. Even Dictator Kaunda used to try hard on some things to retain some international respect for Zambia. Now these kwangalas are in power and they have shown the rest of the country how naturally incompetent they are. I can’t wait for the opportunity to kick them out and hope they never ever get a chance again. To them development can only come through stealing and talking too much. Zambia will lose an entire 5 years on its economic and democratic advancement.
I am plead that I have been proved right. Can the PF cadre telling us that all is well show us any photos of what well with Livingstone. See photos on ZWD.
Now HCTAWUZ and its Secretary General Michelo Chizyuka cry being left out of looting of development funds. As a Union you just make sure that both govt’s and citizens’ effort is on course and achieved and this is bigger picture than being involved. It is ordinary Zambian investors to be involved and Govt’s job is to facilitate through provision of enabling environment such as development loans, favourable tax incentives, policy formulation, projection and introduction. You can’t even tell us the objectives and milestones of the project apart from crying being left out. Tell us areas where we are both behind and on schedule. You unionists you are good at kick backs from employers & govt at expense of your members, hence the cry. How many workers have you misled to strike and get…
its a flop..reschedule it..
Folks I came to Livingstone on Monday. I agree with what Chizyuka is saying. I have also been asking people which roads have been done. You dont see any preparations and the readiness Masebo claims. It’s all hot air!