Zambia Railways Limited (ZRL) and the Lusaka city council (LCC) have embarked on a tour to audit all land near the Railway tracks.
ZRL Board Chairman Lubinda Linyama says the tour will help bring sanity to the railway tracks and identify which land has been encroached.
ZANS reports that Mr. Linyama was speaking to journalists in a press briefing in Lusaka today, adding that people getting sand from the Railway lines are the ones vandalising the tracks.
Mr. Linyama explained that the program started late last year and an audit has already been done on the Copperbelt Railways.
He said that the high levels of development will come to the country through railway transport Hence sanity must be observed.
Mr Linyama noted that human activities like the removal of screws and nuts from the railway tracks are the reasons why no inhabitants are allowed by the Railway land.
Meanwhile, Mr. Linyama has warned people who have illegally built structures along the rail that the will not be compensated once their structures are demolished.
He said 50 meters from the railway tracks is land belonging to Zambia Railways.
Where was this country headed to mwebantu? Only under PF is this sanity coming back… the only black mark for me is the fire tracks and other resiculously overpriced contracts.
Other than that I actually love PF and in the same breath want those who’ve embezzled to be purnished!
We also want freedom of expression and contain the youth and cadres.
Political expediency caused all this insanity. Better to lose an election than to lose lives because of political appeasement.
We also need to see those who vandalised and stole both railway tracks and sleepers arrested and taken to court.
What the likes of Kambwili and other Copperbelt crooks did by striping the railways is a serious crime equal to the tampering of Zesco installations. But why have we let those who committed these crimes go scott free? Some even laughing when they discuss these matters! Do we reallly understand the gravity of what it means to kill your own railway network???
If you are talking of 50 metres Mr Linyama, I am swing disaster along the railway line because some places like Garden, Chawama, Kamwala etc… will be affected. Why not reduce it to 30 metres?
When I passed through Luanshya i saw at Zambia Railways crossing 2 new buildings within 10 metres from the vandalised rail lines.
The executive mayor on the southern side and the MP on the northern side of the railway.
The Luanshya municipalities approved the developments!!!
This is what happens when people who are paid for arresting people encroaching on the railway do not do their jobs and still get paid. Being poor should not be translated into lawlessness. But it is the politicians who have allowed this to happen. There is no way you can increase the speed of trains with the way settlements are now. Encroaching settlements tend to reduce the speed of traffic even on the main roads in Zambia. I used to drive at 100 km/hr (posted speed limit) from Kabwe to Lusaka in the 70s. But encroachment has reduced that limit to 80 km/hr. They have even added speed bumps on the main road – very sad indeed. The economic speed of a country is directly related to the speed at which goods are moved.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN………………SLEEPING LIKE LUSAKA MAYOR
The ripple effects of removing street vendors.
Now let this sanitisation exercise be extended to all government departments
Positive pronouncements. Now let’s implement
While they are at it they should look at one more illegal structure.
ZRL has a board OTHER than that headed by PROF. CLIVE CHIRWA? PLEASE BRING BACK PROF.CHIRWA A MAN FULL OF KNOWLEDGE BUT WASTED BY POLITICAL PUNDITS. I AM GOOD AT RAILWAYS BUT IAM NOT APPRECIATED IN ZAMBIA
I totally do not agree with the demolition of people’s homes without compensation. In the first place all developments that Government does must benefit the people of Zambia. Zambia railways ihas been idle while there land was being encroached. Where has been the councils to wait until now. I strongly believe that the people who will be affected will alot as this is country wide. The MMD Government left us with these plots and we have nothing to point at as the benefits of the PF GOVERNMENT and soon we will loose even what MMD GOVERNMENT GAVE US. SAD EVEN AFTER VOTING FOR THEM. WE SHOT OURSELVES IN THE FOOT.
Ignorance is not the best defence. Why do wrong thing hoping for compesation? Why encourage lawlessness? Let us reason with our brains and NOT emotions and hearts which are very treacherous….Whats wrong is wrong and what’s right is right .NO vompasation.why waste resources in wrong things
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Demolish them and demolish all houses built in what used to be public parks.
Comment: I don’t agree with the demolition of peoples houses without compensation, do you know how many people will be affected to begin with? its about over 40000 households in just a stretch between kabanana to mandevu not to talk about the other compounds like Garden ,chawama, misisi and many more. do you really want to make all these people homeless who have been there all their lives some of them? what does Zambia railway s want to do with this land at the expense of Zambian people or rightly put peoples lives? which they have not done since 1964? they have encronched yes ,but do you want to kill them for that? the row of government is protect its people first then other things like development must come later
Comment:bwana CEO after chewing tax payers money we are contributing you run out ideas, table this motion.you are ok after benefiting our contributions now it is the time to bit the fingers that has been feeding by demolishing there house,be remained that what ever goes up comes down