First Lady Esther Lungu has today handed over the Fire Trucks donated to the Esther Lungu Foundation by Los Angeles City Fire Department to the Lusaka Fire Rescue Services.
The trucks described by UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema as “some amazing” 19th Century Technology as he recounted how as a young boy he used to watch these trucks on a black and white television set were to be received by Fire Rescue Service officials and Local Government Minister Charles Banda.
Handing over the Equipment, the First Lady bemoaned the lack of recognition for the Fire Services Rescue Personnel in the country.
She noted with regret that despite the Fire Department playing a critical role in managing fires, they have not received much recognition in Zambia.
She expressed hope that the donated equipment will help in the management of fires in Lusaka.
Early this year on the 19th January 2019 the First lady arrived in Los Angeles for what the government described as a launch of collaboration between the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the Zambia Fire and Rescue Service where she received four donated Fire trucks.
According to the then presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda the purpose of the trip was to assess if the fire trucks conformed to Zambian standards.
However, it emerged that the donated fire trucks were retired by the LA fire department after serving the area for decades. Two of the trucks are 1985 models, a third one is a 1995 model and the other one a 1996 model.
Local Government Minister Charles Banda described the donation as a timely gesture that will go a long way in the management of fires particularly in Lusaka.
Worse than wheelbarrows kkkkk
No shame at all.
stupid bicht
Justice Lukanga you are an idiioot for saying that. Nothing warranted you to insult the lady. Just stick to condemning the wheel barrows like a normal well raised Zambian.
These were probably props for movies in LA ….we should use them for the same
@Justice Lukanga Kafusha, ULICHIPUBA
This is the problem we having in our country ,you cant just put a point across without insulting. Even when you’ve a valid point ,its defeated by the insult. Why this bitterness surly ,we are all not happy with the on going, but that surely doesn’t give us the reason to insult. Let’s act in good faith.
Shameless woman ……and shameless boma!
Its a donation therefore we have to say zikimo…………………But next time make a proper assessment of the cost related to the donation; otherwise the cost involved to receive the donation could have helped us to buy two brand new trucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ester Continue having such relations it may benefit us more than the so called 19th century trucks.
Imagine how much was the cost on shipping one Fire Truck plus how much they spent going to inspect the same junk. Please we can do better than this, and people don’t want those with sense to say anything. This is Tax payers money you are playing with. The same people that pay Tax some of them are not paid their salaries. Ati ni Lungu chabe 2021! are you sure.
with no maintenance in Zambia. these ain’t allowed to be operational in any county here and they failed to auction them out
I give them 2 years max in Zambia and you’ll see them parked at various locations in Zambia
we (Zambia) need to have some pride and reject some of this s hit. it’s really embarrassing
@Mukowe because Zambia is a dumping ground, we can not make anything of our own we have so many minerals we can have an Auto mobile plant like South Africa. Imagine we used to Assemble Fiat, Land Rover, made Bicycles and had Tata where are all these, its history.
Zambiano, Tata they can keep. Make is Mazda and we shall smile kikikiki.
I would say that we need uniformity of utility service vehicles, especially fire engines and ambulances, respectively.
Imagine Zambia Police Officers wearing ten different types of uniforms?
My thinking.
Who told you that 2020 model is better than 1985? I have a car 1996 JEEP model and functions better than the 2010 I bought which I ended up selling. We still have stone aged mind set in Zambia.
@Denkede stop hallucinating, why would you support such nonsense of fire trucks, these trucks are American made they will soon break down running in those pothole roads and maintenance will be very costly soon they will park. Stop being a full lets build our country for the sake of the next generation to come.
This level of cadreism is shocking.
@Zambiano you make a good point. But of course an unprincipled, hungry man, who cannot do any meaningful work, and his survival entirely depends on bootlicking, will willingly sacrifice his country and even his children for the sake of survival. There are many of them on this blog. They can never make any meaningful contribution to the conversation. All they see is the next meal, the next car, the next houses. No vision of the future. No concern for the progress of the nation.
I mean how can one justify going to LA with a 25 man entourage to get old finished fire trucks? Including a cook? The money spent on the trip was not worth these dinasaurs. Why couldnt she have travelled light? Leaders from far reacher nations travel with far less people. But leaders of poor nations are extravagant…
@Denkede you are showing serious misunderstanding of how the world works. You cannot equate a public service vehicle to a personal car. Vintage car owners keep them for that long because unlike public vehicles, some iconic vehicles were made to last, most by hand and not mass-assembled, the car ancestor you are currently driving which is technically lower than junk. Public vehicles do not go through such rigorous manufacturing processes. That is why these Dinosaur Fire Trucks were retired years ago. They were retired after being deemed UNFIT for fire fighting. They now use 21st-century machines. But disposing of complex machines is dangerous and complex. So they were EXTREMELY happy when Mrs. Lungu showed up at our cost to take the danger from there hands.
I guess you are using a 1985 mobile phone in your jeep. What a bellend you have become!
Do you need to research why poverty is widespread in Zambia? No and again i say no. Wake up! you slumbering country! Don’t expect things to be better without your action- man do you not have brains? atleast use your common sense if that is all you have. But our poverty is the poverty of the mind.#mindset – empirical example when you doing business watch the costs-do not buy mealie meal at 100 chakwa and resale at 40 chakwa its foolhardy. You cannot do it in business but in public service since its not you money (OTPM) you dont care! Baaandits!!!!
*****
How much did the trip with 21 people to the USA cost? Brainless country!
*****e
hmmm, nepo they are ugly.
It’s the shame of being ruled by bambeba, kunya bebele!
In some language they say insoni ebuntu
When a fire breaks out at He He’s house please use these beautiful things to put it out.
On this one, the First Lady could have let her chamberlain that traveled with her make the speech. Also not saying anything would have been good, that being the one giving away these wheelbarrows. These are gili gilis and not even wheelbarrows. Kikikiki.
Add Local government minister Charles Banda to the list of ministers Zambia does not need. He is a yes man, he could have simply advised the minister of religion, that in being righteous he was requesting her to speak to the First Lady. Wisely asking the foundation to donate the fire machinery to the Lusaka museum. To celebrate Los Angeles’ famous fire department.
Odis’s at its best,the value of the present reflects the value of the receiver.in this case this is how Zambia is valued.
In Zambia anything that is painted red colour is a fire truck. Even a skip or a wheelbarrow when painted red will be a fire truck and you can donate it the council. These are not fire Trucks but look like skips.
Dr. Banda had to be polite to maintain his job. Deep down his heart he knows that “te Boom iyo”
Really the argument is not about the donated fire vehicles .It is about the cost of bringing them in incurred by the First Lady and her entourage of cooks and room attendants.But again the first lady is not entirely to blame but the Zambian Government officials who were supposed to give the necessary technical advise concerning the value of the fire vehicles.Because the government evaluation systems are now completely compromised no one was able to offer proper technical advise.The Permanent Secretary at Local Government should be cited for abuse of office.
Tell me who is driving 2019 model vehicle in Zambia very few if not none
This is just a way of dumping unwanted goods in the name of donations. Dont we have the right to deny such donations?