Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Paul Thole, has commissioned a 50 thousand United States Dollar water project in Lusangazi District, Eastern Province.
The water project with a capacity of 330 million litres of water was funded by the Amplius Group from the United Kingdom in partnership with Bekazulu Lime mining Company of Lusangazi district as part of the Mining firm’s Corporate Social responsibility.
Speaking when he commissioned the water project, Mr Thole Saif the availability of water was key to every community and such projects needed to be encouraged in order to provide easy access of the commodity by the local people.
Mr Thole asked the Amplius Group from the United Kingdom to pass on such technology to people entrusted with the responsibility to provide water in the communities such as workers at the Local Authority so that they could be using it in the implementation of local water projects.
He explained that there was also a need to identify more water sources and come up with more water projects where the commodity could be tapped from for utilisation through boreholes and Dams in a bid to assist the Government in curbing challenges of access to water being faced by most people.
” Let us continue assisting the Government in curbing water challenges by coming up with such projects and more of such but also ensure that you teach such technology to those in the local authority so that they use it when implementing most water projects,” he said.
The East PS urged people of Lusangazi not to limit their capacity to deliver development but work hard and be ready to learn and understand any new technologies brought in their district.
And speaking at the same ceremony, group leader of the Amplius Group from the United Kingdom, Chris Turner, explained that plans were underway to expand the water pipes for the project situated in M’donsa Ward of Lusangazi district to the surrounding villages.
Mr Turner said the water project was installed in the rural area because the place was identified to have plenty of underground water which did not run dry among two other sites that were earlier identified.
He added that the water project was just one of the many projects the group planned to undertake in Lusangazi.
” We had earlier identified three sites for this project but this one was found to have plenty of underground water which does not run dry and so we plan on expanding it to the nearest villages and we will bring more of such projects to Lusangazi,” he said.
And Bekazulu Mine Vice Chairperson, Oliver Nyumbu, said the installed water could be used for Agriculture and Aquaculture purposes, such as gardening and fish farming by the local people in the area so that they became self-sustainable.
Mr Nyumbu said plans were underway to source for more funds from other partners to come up with more of such projects in Lusangazi.
He added that Zambia had been receiving aid from donors for more than 60 years, but people’s livelihoods remained underdeveloped and called for the need for people to shift their mindset and focus on receiving support for local investment, so they become self-sustainable.
” This project is for the community members in this area, and they can use it for Agriculture and Aquaculture as a local investment so that they are self-sustainable,” he said.
Meanwhile Lusangazi Council Chairperson, Blackson Tembo, said the Government always emphasized the need to partner with other stakeholders in the delivery of development to various sectors of the economy, adding that such investment to the community of Lusangazi must be encouraged.
Mr Tembo called on people planning to invest in Lusangazi to involve the local leadership before undertaking any project so that all stakeholders were involved in the project.
” As you may be aware that the Government is always encouraging such partnership with stakeholders in bringing about development and I am asking any person planning on investing in Lusangazi district and it is important to involve all of us before undertaking any project in the area, ” he said.
And Speaking at the same function, Msanzala Constituency Member of Parliament, Elias Daka, urged the local people in Mdonsa Ward to form cooperatives and start benefiting from the water project.
Mr Daka asked the mining firm to continue with developmental projects in Lusangazi because it was their corporate social responsibility to the community.
” I am urging women in this area to start forming cooperatives so that they start benefiting from this project as groups and the mining firm must continue working towards bringing development to the local people in Lusangazi,” he said.
And Lusangazi District Commissioner, Mike Tembo thanked the donors and Bekazulu Lime Mining Company for the development in Lusangazi district because it would be beneficial to the local people considering the fact that Lusangazi was a rural district faced with many challenges including lack of safe drinking water.
