JICA President Mr Shinichi Kitaoka has commended Zambia for being a peaceful nation and a shining example of free and fair elections across the continent and beyond .

Mr Kitaoka stated that Zambia was one of the few nation’s that had recorded peaceful transition during elections and that this was commendable and needed to be emulated by other nations.

Mr Kitaoka said this when he paid a courtesy call on the Head of State, His Excellency, President Edgar Chagwa Lungu at State House this morning.

He stated that the cooperation between Zambia and Japan in several arenas spanned over 50 years and that it was the desire of his organisation to have further cooperation with the Zambian government in various disciplines.

And President Edgar Lungu thanked the JICA President for his visit and stated that Japan had been of great help to Zambia in the feilds of health as well as in the education sector. He cited the School of Vetenary Medicine at the University of Zambia as one such example of the great collaboration between Japan and Zambia.

And President Lungu stated that it was his responsibility to ensure that Zambia had a conducive environment which would attract foreign investment. He further stated that the stable political environment in the nation was very important because everyone was affected by politics in one way or the other.

He expressed confidence that the visit of the JICA leader whose last visit to Zambia was 21 years ago would yeild positive results.

The Over 800 displaced farmers in Ndola’s Chichele area have appealed to government through the area Member of Parliament, Jonas Chanda to tell the Police to stop tear gassing them whenever they try to seek audience with Golden Lay Limited, an investor that purchased the piece of land they possessed for many years.

They wondered why they are allegedly being harassed when instead, they are the ones who are supposed to be protected and helped to have their land back.

ZANIS reports that the farmers said they are peaceful people who are only fighting for that which belongs to them which has been unlawfully grabed from them.

And speaking through their representative Abraham Manda, the families have vowed not to relent on the matter until justice prevails.

Mr. Manda said the farmers have suffered a lot and have called for quick intervention from government, stating that, it is heartbreaking to see Zambians suffering at the expense of foreign investors.

Meanwhile, Dr. Chanda has urged the affected farmers to remain calm and trust government in the matter.

He said the families should equally understand that police officers are only deployed to maintain law and order where unruly behavior immerges adding that, they should not take the law in their hands.

The Bwana Mkubwa Parliamentarian said he will soon write to the Vice President, Inonge Wina to consider relocating the farmers through the resettlement scheme programme.

He added that, he is upbeat that the Vice President’s Office will quickly look into the plight of the people who he said have the right to own land just like many other Zambians.

The families are sitting on a 2964 hectares of land which was later sold to a foreign investor, Golden Lay Limited without their consent.

And Golden Lay Limited General Manager, Stephan Feinberg acknowledged purchasing the named piece of land by Golden Lay.

Minister in charge of Lusaka province Hon Bowman Lusambo says his continued impromptu visits of critical institutions is meant to offer his office a genuine understanding of the state of service delivery in Lusaka province.

And Hon Lusambo says his tours in the institutions are also a response to, “the calls by our people for us in leadership to be more in touch with the issues affecting them.”

Meanwhile, Hon Lusambo says from his unannounced tour of Chilenje Level 1 and the University Teaching Hospitals (UTH), strategies and mechanisms to address some of the challenges in the health sector will be implemented.

Speaking after the tour of both Chilenje Level 1 and the UTH, Hon Lusambo noted that government has made tremendous investments in the health sector and it was important for Zambians to get the best level of care in the health sector.

“From the onset, these impromptu tours are meant to offer my office a better appreciation of the service delivery landscape… and they are also a response to the calls by our people for us in leadership to be more in touch with the issues affecting our people.

I visited Chilenje Level 1 and the University Teaching Hospitals. The tour offered me an opportunity to interact with the hospital administration, the staff and most importantly, the patients seeking care at these facilities,” said Hon Lusambo.

“What is also important is to realize that our people deserve the best quality of care when visiting our health facilities.”

And a Lusaka resident Derrick Chalusa has expressed concern on the attitude of the Chilenje Level 1 hospital Health Workers. He wonders why it should take the whole day for the hospital staff to attend to a single patient.

“With Chilenje Level 1 hospital, I don’t understand whether it is the issue of man power or that the hospital staff are overwhelmed with work cause when it is morning say 07:00hrs and you have gone to seek medical attention, you will leave that place maybe around 16:00hrs. Something has to be done about the operations of that institutions,” stated Chalusa.

Meanwhile, another Lusaka resident Arthur Phiri has joined calls on the minister to take time and equally inspect the operations at Lusaka’s Ng’ombe Clinic while Mabvuto Joseph Bili, Andre Chosen Kongwa, Mwenda Simpungwe, Debra Mutale, Lawrence Banda among others have applauded Hon Lusambo for his action orientated leadership.

“Please keep it up Honourable, people we appreciating your efforts. Visit Ng’ombe clinic also.

“Wake them up Honourable. This is what we have been looking forward to… Keep it up Sir. We need more of your kind… Uwafitala akaimwena, I love the route you have taken Hon Lusambo,” they have separately written on the minister’s active facebook account.

“Please extend your impromptu visits to the private sector; the Security Companies, manufacturing industries, the Chain Stores, Lebanese Shops and assess the labour conditions. Please visit the private Clinics, architectural companies, parastatals and the Media Institutions.”

Lusaka City Council has been charged for failing to remove waste and restore garbage dumping areas in some parts of Kanyama and Misisi compounds. The council has been slapped with two counts for managing garbage in a manner which creates significant risk of an adverse effect and other two counts of failure to restore sites, where garbage had been illegally dumped.

The charges are in accordance with Section 54 and Section 60 of the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) Act. ZEMA has also charged Lusaka Town Clerk, Alex Mwansa and Council Director of Public Health, Edgar Mulwanda, in their official capacities in the local authority.

ZEMA Corporate Affairs Manager, Irene Chipili says the council will be prosecuted for the four counts, and this relates to a Site Restoration Order, issued on August 1, 2018.

Below is the full statement

ZAMBIA ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AGENCY

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

LUSAKA, 24^TH AUGUST, 2018- ZEMA CHARGES LUSAKA CITY COUNCIL

The Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) has charged Lusaka City Council (LCC) for failure to fully comply with Site Restoration Orders issued on 1^st August, 2018. Pursuant to Section 60 of the Environmental Management Act No. 12 of 2011 (“EMA”), LCC was ordered to remove waste in parts of Garden, Kanyama and Misisi townships and the Town Centre and restore the sites to a condition satisfactory to ZEMA. The Council was also ordered to take action that would prevent the continuation of disposal of waste at the stated sites.

The Agency carried out compliance inspections of the stated sites and found that LCC did not fully comply with the Orders. In view of the above, LCC will be prosecuted on four counts for:

1. Two counts for the offence of Managing waste in a manner that results in an adverse effect or creates a significant risk of an adverse effect occurring in respect of the two sites in Misisi and Kanyama respectively contrary to Section 54 of the EMA; and

2. Two counts for the offence of failure to comply with Site Restoration Orders issued in respect of Misisi and Kanyama sites respectively contrary to Section 60 subsections (3) and (4) of the EMA.

In addition, pursuant to Section 126 of the EMA, Mr. Alex Mwansa and Mr. Edgar Mulwanda have been charged in their official capacities as Town Clerk and Director of Public Health at the LCC respectively. To this end, the two stand charged together with LCC with four counts as above.

The offences were committed on dates unknown but between 1^st day of January, 2018 and 11^th August, 2018 in Lusaka District. The matter will come up for allocation and possible plea before the Lusaka Magistrate court on 30^th August, 2018.

ZEMA is committed to ensuring that Local Authorities play their role in managing waste in their jurisdictions and subsequently, protecting our environment.

Issued by: Irene Lungu Chipili

Manager – Corporate Affairs

Zambia Environmental Management Agency