Lusaka City Council (LCC) has noted with concern that some sections of society believe the opening to drainage in front of Lumumba Bus Station where rescue operation was conducted is what caused the alleged drowning of the unidentified man.
LCC Public Relations Manager George Sichimba said the misinformation has created anxiety in some sections of society thereby blaming Council for the alleged drowning.
He said LCC wishes to clarify that the alleged drowning incidence is reported to have happened some 100 metres away towards Mumbwa/Lumumba Road junction where the drainage is open by design.
“The drainage at the frontage of Lumumba Bus Station was covered to create easy access in and out of the station by both buses and commuters, ” he said.
“During the search for the body, the rescue team created an opening into the cover of the drainage for search operation purposes”.
He said the opening access was needed for the team to access the covered part of the drainage and also to allow the horse pipe for the fire engine to pump out water from the drainage at that section.
“It is unfortunate that some onlookers captured that very opening and posted on social media purporting that it is the opening that “swallowed” the person alleged to have drowned, “he added.
Mr. Sichimba said that Some social media reports went further to accuse LCC of having neglected the opening for a long time when in fact it was created that same morning of the search operation.
LCC, is, therefore, appealing to members of the public to dismiss the social media reports with the contempt they deserve.
Fake news is on the rise. We have every confidence that the rightful authorities will investigate this unfortunate event to find out what really happened. I am personally going to fund the investigation and will soon meet with the deceased’s family. This is the ubuntu we have in PF. The only party that cares for the zambian people. Kz
KZ, again amplifying how incompetent the govt is. If you guys were serious, you should have had the appropriate social services in place instead of digging into your own “pockets” with the money you have stolen from Zambians! Ubuntu?!, you have no clue what it means. STFU and save your govt face!
Did they find the man in the drainage or how many more bodies did they retrieve? That is what is important, not the styupidity of social media going on in Lusaka.
Maybe even the drowning was just the styupidity going on in Lusaka.
I have witness sewerage pouring out from sewers once the rains begin in the Lusaka CBD of which the council seems not to know. Even the public is not made aware that the water flowing in the CBD after a downpour is mixed with sewerage. I would not be surprised if someone truly fell in a sewer as the council has no ability to know the state of the infrastructure in Lusaka.
why do you condemn social media so much?
you’ve clarified what happened, that’s good leave it at that. there’s misinformation in any form of media.
you’ve never given credit where social media has brought something to light
while we’re at the subject…”the alleged drowning incidence is reported to have happened some 100 metres away towards Mumbwa/Lumumba Road junction where the drainage is open by design”
what design are you talking about? how can you leave it open such that a full grown person can fall in. does that make sense to you? and you want to not bear blame? fact of the matter is that your system is open in heavily populated areas. you want a Chinese or muzungu person to come and tell you that drainage shouldn’t be left open both for safety and functional reasons…
wake the f#)$# up and do some real work, it doesn’t take an engineer to figure that out. lazy butch of people good at deflecting blame. take full responsibility, that’s the problem with the current govent. never accepts any wrong doing, it’s always the opposition (hh) or social median, it’s never them
Rightful authorities are being intimidated by political thugs who have depleted the national wallet and sent the economy tumbling off the cliff of the Muchinga escapement .They cant even pay university of Zambia lecturers .In most developed nations , governments depend on research done by academicians and students .In Zambia politicians depend on Wikipedia for answers .
Why are these Zambian officials and politicians always worried about social media? Its now a digital age move with times and just upgrade your Public Relation systems. Only organisations that are not transparent or stuck in the dark ages of yesterday’s print news are worried about social media. It seems even LCC is contradicting themselves so there is a possibility someone can drown in the drains and where is the outlet for all this water. Why are you using a Fire Truck for this kind of job? Was it a search and rescue mission?
Well, the attempt to deflect responsibility has not been successful here as open drainage by design or otherwise should not be used at all as the accident shows. City council is not responsible by neglect except the whole of the open drain design needs to be remedied as a matter of urgency. The cheapest way is to run railings on both sides of the drains to prevent citizens even remotely falling in.
That remedy is not costly as it could be the use of simple iron spikes interspaced to prevent a child or adult being able to squeeze past.
Comment:u can’t fight everything on social media just do your work and make sure pipo are safe.