Some Lusaka residents have vowed to block the proposed construction of a one storey modern shopping mall within St Mary’s Secondary School in Lusaka’s Woodlands area.
The residents mostly former students and parents and guardians of some pupils at the school have taken to Facebook to condemn the project.
Most of the parents have since vowed to go and speak out against the project when the Zambia Environmental Management Agency holds a public hearing on the subject on Saturday, February 4th 2017 at the school premises.
Vertigo Properties Limited (VPL), owned indirectly by a South African pension fund through Novare Africa Fund II intends to construct a mall on Property No. 211 junction of Mutende and Chindo Roads within St Mary’s Secondary School on land belonging to Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC).
The mall will have a one storey building sitting on a 10,000 m² with 40 commercial outlet shops with Shoprite as the anchor store.
The mall will also have a food court, entertainment zone, fashion shops, banking services and an extensive car parking which can hold 400 parking bays.
But the parents are objecting to the construction of the project will negatively affect the quality of education that the girls will be receiving at the school.
“And who will shop there? Already there is Woodlands mall just around the corner and in less than 5km you have two in Kabulonga area and then the other two at Choppies and Crossroads, with the dwindling incomes, no wonder people are stealing to feed these malls. Why not build in provincial capital towns and see what happens?”, wrote Amusaa Zaza.
Judy Habanji wrote, “wonders shall never end. Why not put up another school or sports centre for the school and open it to the public instead of putting up malls all over. Already shops are coming up at Woodlands stadium. This country is too much.”
Others such as Alex Ngweji Mbumba said, “Mall mania! How I wish we had the same zeal in innovative thinking on entrepreneurship activities to use the many things around us to make money.”
I think multi sports complex will be the way to go with international standards to be open to the public. Too much of malls now try something new too. Have different developments and different income sources.
Sports complex in Zambia is a waste of time, very few people are physically active and they don’t even appreciate the importance. Some even question me why I am jogging, losing weight when it has become fashionable for them to gain weight
Ni land ya ANYOKO?
Telesphore Mpundu has proved to be the most useless and most corrupt archbishop of Lusaka.
@ 1.3 imititi turu …how has the archbishop come into this. you have told us the archbishop is useless, how about your kaponya father who fathered a retard like you.
ZAMBIA is a nothing but but a massive out let for south African goods, the more malls the better.
To lungu this is creating jobs.
Lungu has done nothing useful for Zambia since he became president. The majority ministries are in chaos run by incompetent unqualified ministers. Another shopping mall is not needed in Lusaka! Why is the government not constructing hospitals and schools? Why is the government not completing the constructions of roads, hospitals, hydro dams that Sata and his government had started to build. Why is another South African Company being offered Zambian Land to enrich A South African national. The country is in chaos! UTH is making departments hospitals! It has recruited diploma nurses to replace nursing officers with masters and PhD degrees. These under qualified diploma nurses are the relatives of the top people at the ministry of health. The current nursing officers and directors are…
@ Moses CORRECTION!
“hydro dams that Sata and his government had started to build.”
Sata did NOT start to build hydro dams. HE CANCELLED THE CONTRACT FOR KAFUE GORGE LOWER!
If he had not done that, we would not have LOAD SHEDDING TODAY! Did you not see in the news Lungu “commissioning” this exact same project last year? That will take four years to complete?
PF is claiming our power problems are due to drought. Rubbish! They are due to an incompetent PF Government that has no clue on how the economy works or how to run a country.
Dokotor, in short you are saying President Lungu actually had the vision to see that President Sata cancelling the lower Kafue Gorge contract was an error. Go Edgar on this one.
Yes, Nzelu. But he never admitted it was a PF error. He blamed “the drought”!
And only after FOUR YEARS of LOAD SHEDDING showed him the LIGHT! Or in this case, the LACK of LIGHTS!
In the first place who even gave them land….
The Bishops gave this land out as a way of raising funds. As for Spaka, please for once discuss issues at hand without bringing in politics. This private land and only those it’ll affect should intervene.
Ndanje you are a silly cadre. Starnyoko iwe. Tomba chinoko. Mukongo wawiso
Ndanje khakis
Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.
Albert Einstein
Nez, I’ve told you several times not to engage me. I can interact with all Upnd members but not you.
Lol. Zambia is just rotten!!! President and Agriculture minister are both not in the country when the army worms are threatening the 2017 harvest. What a joke!!!
Am not supporting the construction of the mall at St. Marys.
Let the girl child have a free mind of learning.
This move is some how maybe accompanied by dragon to destruct and hinder the future of our children.
#Thinktwice
Church land for money changers? Ambuye, wadabwisa mulungu.
Ambuye, try and set up a South African University Teaching hospital or girls engineering school. Not malls puleeeeze.
LUSAKA TIMES WHY HAVE YOU FAILED TO ANNOUNCE THE BEST BLOGGER. WHAT ARE YOU SCARED OF. WE DEMAND YOU RELEASE THE RESULTS. WHY DID YOU WASTE PEOPLE TIME VOTING IF YOU WANTED A PARTICULAR PERSON TO WIN. LET ME WARN YOU THAT THE LONGER YOU TAKE TO ANNOUNCE THE MORE CURSES YOU ARE BRINGING ON YOUR FAMILIES AND SHORTENING THEIR LIVES. DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU. Zambians wake up
Many doner countries and organisations would support an adult skills school where skills like carpentry, bricklaying, sewing and book keeping are taught.
But this involves work, sacrifice and there are no bribes to be found so this is not something this PF GRZ can attempt.
Its private land, so let them go ahead. They will generate more money for Catholics. Those who feel their children will be affected let them transfer them to any school in Lusaka period. Its a business world and you have to be innovative to survive. I support the project.
I am sure you would support your daughter if she’s goes into prostitution for business.
It looks like Zambians can be bought for the right price! Even the clergy can be bribed!This reminds me of Dipak Patel who received several bribes to award contracts to Indians and bot Zambians when he was a minister.
This is not development. It is just going to benefit South African farmers and industries. Think out of the box, we can’t only be building shopping malls.
But where are Zambian farmers and what are they doing so as not to compete with their south African counterparts who’re benefiting for the availability of shopping malls, whose clients are Zambians too?
Imwe naimwe ba supporter of umulimi umwina Zambia… Have you not heard of Army worms this farming season? By the way, where are Zambian farmers and what are they doing so as not to compete with their south African counterparts who’re benefiting for the availability of shopping malls, whose clients are Zambians too?
Don’t answer NEZ, this is a thick head fo0l. The problem is that the guy does not know he is a fo0l, so he will continue arguing. I can prove this, what is the use of insulting when all the insults you are hurling you have them on your body. That’s how dull the ka chap is
the land in question is a private , let the owner of the land do whatever they want to do with the land. don’t poke your noses inthe property that is not yours and take your politics somewheresomewhere.
Nkani yakangono.. can you please fund schools especially Mission schools so that they dont go out prostituting for petty deals to protect their own existence. Capitalism… Neo-liberalism teyakwangasha especially when the rule of law is perpetually raped by those that are supposed to uphold it. Bamayo bana Sumaili inchito iyi yamoneka. Kindly promote the existence of charities lole your Jesus Cares Ministries so that philanthropy is not completely obscured by capitalism. Bana Sumaili.. this is your job.