Lwimba ward Councilor Vincent Mwachiyeya has expressed concern over the bad state of a feeder road from Ndapula turn off leading to Katoba area, alleging that the road has been partly damaged by KDR Ceramics company.
Mr Mwachiyeya told ZANIS that the company has used the road to ferry quarry and has left the road in a deplorable state making it difficult for residents to use it.
He said the road which has been extremely damaged by the company was graded by Chongwe Municipal Council and later on damaged by heavy trucks which use it to ferry its quarry.
Mr Mwachiyeya revealed that KDR Ceramics was recently asked to work on the road by civic leadership in the ward but the company refused to do so on the basis that it pays mineral royalties to the Busoli royal establishment.
“I and Katoba ward councilor engaged the company requesting that it works on the road but management refused to undertake the works as they said they are already paying royalties to the royal establishment,” Mr. Mwachiyeya said.
He wondered why the company is being allowed to continue damaging the road in the two communities by relevant authorities in the district.
He has since called for intervention from both political leadership in Chongwe and government authorities to compel the company to rehabilitate the road as a way of giving back to the two communities.
Meanwhile, Katoba ward councilor Rebecca also urged the local authority in the area to come to the aid of residents in the two wards who use the road to transport their farm produce to markets by ensuring that KDR Ceramics works on the road.
Ms. Banda said it was unfair for the company to refuse to rehabilitate the road which it is equally benefiting from.
“It is not fair for KDR Ceramics to refuse to work on a road which it found in a good condition and was damaged afterwards. Just because the company is paying royalties to the establishment does not mean they should not do anything to help local communities,” Ms. Banda said.
Councillor Mwachiyeya is not showing much leadership like the rest of our civic leaders. No local authority can be viable if civic leaders do not know and maintain the correct ratio of residents and businesses to the total population of residents that are paying taxes directly into the local authority’s coffers. That’s the biggest problem facing all the local authorities in Zambia. Most residents in local authorities want public goods but are paying too little or nothing in local taxes to their local government body but they want municipal services that make life comfortable. It’s not going to work.