Friday, March 29, 2024

Lusaka City Council apprehends 9 suspects for discharging effluent into the open drainage

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Lusaka City Council Head Office
Lusaka City Council Head Office
The Lusaka City Council (LCC) has apprehended nine (09) suspects for allegedly discharging effluent into the open drainage being constructed by Millennium Challenge Account – Zambia (MCAZ).

The nine who include six males and three females were picked up by alert Council Police officers on Monday, 25th September, 2017 around 10:00 hours.

The suspects have alleged connected sewer pipes from their houses in Garden Township into the drainage currently under construction.

The suspects, (eight (08) landlords and one tenant), said they were not aware that it was a crime to discharge sewer into the drains.

The Bombay and Mazyopa drains are part of the US$355 million Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage (LWSSD) Project funded by the U.S. Government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Zambia.

Once completed, the drainages will help reduce annual flooding experienced in many parts of Lusaka.

The Lusaka City Council last year recruited 30 Council security officers to help increase public awareness and cooperation in problematic areas along the Bombay drain to avoid blocking the drains.

Lusaka Town Clerk, Alex Mwansa announced that the recruitment of the 30 officers will help to enhance the policing aspect of the sensitisation exercise and also to apprehend members of the public who will be found abrogating the law.

Mr. Mwansa said indiscrimintate disposal of solid waste is an offence under Chapter 100 of the Local Government Act Cap 281 and Statutory Instrument No.125 of 2001 on hazardous waste management regulations which also encompasses the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Act No 12 of 1990.

“Council security officers are expected to apprehend culprits who will be found dumping refuse and bring them to the Civic Centre for prosecution.

Mr. Mwansa said the MCA-Zambia project complements Government’s efforts of mitigating perennial flooding, which have largely focused on construction of secondary drains in the city of Lusaka.

He said residents should ensure that they subscribe to the waste management system and avoid littering and indiscriminate disposal of waste and discharge of sewer effluent into the drains that may lead to outbreaks of water and airbone diseases such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea.

He said this may also pose a risk to infrastructure such as drains as most of the solid waste ends up in the drainages, leading to blockages which in turn reduce their efficiency and life span.

2 COMMENTS

  1. Tafyakabombe ifyo fima drainage mulepanga. Decongest Lusaka first. Or work on the sewerage system first. Build High rise buildings where you can accommodate thousands of shanty dwellers. But you can achieve planned layouts and infrasturture

    • You still end up with “projects” or “slams” poor uneducated people are difficult to incorporate into any meaningful project.

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