LUSAKA Deputy Mayor Mulenga Sata has called for calm and tolerance among Lusaka residents who attack and stone fire officers when they arrive late to offer services at fire accident scenes.
Mr Sata described the behavior as retrogressive adding that the delays are mainly caused by late communication by the community and traffic congestion on most of the roads.
He was speaking in Lusaka on Tuesday when Noble Charities of the United States of America handed over firefighting equipment, all valued at K250, 000.00 to Lusaka Fire Brigade.
The equipment is meant to help the Fire Brigade deliver quality services to the community.
“l appeal to our residents to consider these pieces of equipment that are procured at great expense and donated with great commitment as theirs .This equipment costs money and we should therefore guard it jealously,” Mr Sata said.
The equipment include one fire engine-truck, 20 helmets, 20 tunics, 20 gloves, and pieces of literature, 20 fire boots, 20 lengths of hose, 20 safety belts, and emergency search lights among others.
Mr Sata said the capital city was undergoing progressive changes economically and socially due to the favourable environment for doing business hence the need to have state of the art firefighting equipment to effectively respond whenever fire and such other emergencies occur.
And Noble Charities representative, Desmond Noble said he was happy to donate the fire truck to Lusaka Fire Brigade as it would not only save lives but also protect people’s property from damage for many years to come.
Meanwhile, Fire Service Union of Zambia Secretary General Clement Mulenga said the burden on fire service delivery in Lusaka is compounded by the fact that Lusaka fire brigade turns out to places beyond its borders.
Mr Mulenga said the city has the population of three million people but the Brigade’s service delivery remains stagnant adding that thus had prompted the Union to look for cooperating partners who could help fill the gaps.
Ba LT are you sure about the K250,000.00 (that’s about $50,000) Surely, that figure does not look right (especially that there is a fire engine truck involved)?
@Ligwinya, Its a used fire engine maybe its valued at $30,000.
At a Fire station in our neighborhood, there is a 1998 Fire engine truck “for sale” am sure its equipped, sign sales it runs ” $7500″. I guess its a 4 passenger.
you see now,,,,, if GBM or HH were involved at least 4 fire engines would have been acquired,,
Go ahead Mulenga, train the dogs.
Like father like son ,learning the art of using violence to achieve his political gains.
Brilliant advice! So people should also stone Sata for lying about the constitution and for failing to honour his campaign promises.
People you have heard it from the prince cobra’s mouth him self that only violence works when it comes to dealing with Sata.
So traffic congestion is the problem, huh? Sure, traffic is a BIG problem in Lusaka….!
Only the VP and Government Ministers still manage to barge their way past even the worst of traffic with blaring sirens and motorbikes, going the wrong way down roads, and pushing other the motorists into the gutter whenever they want to go somewhere. I guess these VIPs are even more “very important” than someone’s business and life savings being ruined in a fire? At least Mr. Sata (Sr.) just stays put in State House or uses the chopper….. thanks, Sir!
Btw – isn’t traffic the reason fire trucks have loud sirens, horns, and big flashy lights?
You are very dull
He and his father are the ones who should be stoned not these brave firemen.
They always run out of water and even ask for tips after putting out a fire.
Please stop complaining about population growth and the lack of capacity of the fire brigade. Allow private fire stations to operate, monitored by the ministry of public works or local government whatever. Or instead of having the council fire station located in place only, have several stations across the Lusaka, just like you have your council markets (where you collect daily levies). This can be done within the council budget, if only the bosses can stop ‘playing with themselves’ and stop lining their dirty pockets.
Signing off, Mushota baby, i miss you!
Very interseting. I think people have no patience nw
It is lack of good maping of roads, for instance those going to UTH from Chawama should have a road link to Kabwata without passing through Kafue round about. Motorists must learn to give way to emmergence service vehilces like fire fighters and ambulances.
Kanjimaano there has been quite some improvement around ring/link road in Lusaka the last few years.I know for a fact that it is now possible to get from Kabwata to the Great East road (hence a route for UTH – Chawama) without having to go through town and the Kabwe round-about. That said there is still room for significant improvement and probably the most important an actual ring road which is a highway around Lusaka CBD with exit and entry rumps so that the need for traffic lights or traffic circles can be done away with
The 2016 Presidential Candidate for PF has spoken, anyway LUSAKA has no fire anymore , but KITWE is worse
His concern should centre around late arrival of fire engines, and the firemen capabilities- have these old men ever successfully extinguished a fire?
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They are so ill-prepared it’s either they`ll arrive late or run out of water. And when they go to refill, FORGET!
I once had an unfortunate chance to watch their drills; they practice on blazing car tyres! who calls you for such ‘child play’ sized fires here?
All they do well is ‘supply’ water to construction sites and ‘motels’.
Peace to mother zed
Sata Jr. should centre his concern around late arrival of fire engines, and the firemen capabilities- have these old men ever successfully extinguished a fire?
They are so ill-prepared it’s either they`ll arrive late or run out of water. And when they go to refill, FORGET!
I once had an unfortunate chance to watch their drills; they practice on a couple of blazing car tyres! who calls you for such ‘child play’ sized fires here?
All they do well is ‘supply’ water to construction sites and ‘motels’.
Peace to mother zed
What violence is Mulenga Sata instigating? Some people contribute without a grain of shame to lie. You have got nothing to contribute . Wanzelu surely your hate , envy and hatred is deep rooted in your upbringing . I don’t know what you do for your living in UK . Any article you are contributing is about hate that is morally bankrupt. For once contribute in the spirit of preaching love and harmony. Sata remains the president of Zambia not by default but through free and fair elections that the people of Zambia decided over. I’m not saying change your away of political affiliation / ideology of hate, envy as I know it’s part of who you are. I’m not sympathiser of Sata but I believe hate breeds hate. Zambians are kind hearted people but the hate from you is unbelievable.
@Pafenamwine,
Please hold your fire, there is no hatred/ envy in Wanzelu’s contributions whatsoever. He simply calls a spade a spade and if you see any good with this PF government good luck to you.
Yes, Mr Sata was elected by the people who believed his false promises. If you are enjoying some benefits from the PF don’t force others not to express their views freely. Are you happy with the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the nation’s challenger jet?
Mr. Cobra, What about when they arrive without water and they take off to go and look for water, is traffic the cause also?
Mwana wa Njoka (Cobra) ni Njoka (Cobra).
Because they are a joke? And maybe if you politicians stopped stuffing your pockets…maybe that money could help revamp failing public service institutions…
Traffic congestion ! Do the city planners have long term plans for the development of the city.
The problem with Zambian town planners is that they are short sighted.We wait for the problem to occur then try to fix it.Does it sound familiar?
If I may ask ,in 25 yrs time what will be the population of Lusaka?If the population will increase it means there will be more pressure on the social amenities.What are the city planners doing about that?
mwana wa njoka ni njoka
Our politicians have surely failed us for sometime but attacking firemen is retrogressive.There are faults including corruption in the system that may exacerabte the situation(eg the fire engine fetching water to this official’s plot when fire strikes) but let us not forget the whole picture.The firemen may or may not be to blame for certain situations but the problem is that blaming them sort of absolves individuals,families and communities and the system .It may not be the traffic,it may be a poor access road to this unmarked house on an unnamed street in mandevu which was wired wrongly and connected to Zesco illegally.In the process of saving on material,this house in Chalala reached only the ‘linto’ and the ceiling board was mounted.Fire will spread faster….and why cant that house