The Parliamentary Committee on Communications, Transport, Works and Supply has insisted that phase one of the ZICTA rural telecommunications tower project is a failed project.

The MPs have since questioned why ZICTA agreed to change the technical specifications from a minimum of 5Km radius requirement to erect 204 sites in rural areas at a total cost of US$ 13.5 million.

The MPs were enraged after ZICTA Director General Margaret Mudenda submitted before the Committee and defended the manner in which the project has been implemented.

Chavuma MP Kenneth Konga said ZICTA should be mindful that the funds being used under the Universal Access Project are tax payers money hence the need to be prudent in the manner the project is being handled.

‘This ZICTA has really failed, first and foremost as professionals, why did you accept to put these towers in Chiefdoms because as professionals you should carry out your own professional assessments about the radius coverage without political influence,’ said Kankoyo MP Levy Chabala.

Committee Chairman Vitalis Mooya also questioned why ZICTA has gone ahead to award phase two of the contract to Huawei, the same Chinese firm that has allegedly failed to carry out phase one.

But Mrs Mudenda clarified that phase one of the tower construction project has not failed because ZICTA is yet to complete the technical verification of all the erected GSM sites.

She insisted that it is premature to state that the project has failed when technical verification of the 204 sites has not been completed.

Mrs. Mudenda who admitted that out of 204 sites erected, only 170 have been switched on said a team of ZICTA inspectors is in the field to assess the performance of the sites erected.

She said phase one of the project, mainly targeted Chiefdoms and as at 31 March 2015, 170 sites had been completed and switched on.

She added, “On the sites cited by the Consumer Unity Trust Society as not meeting the minimum coverage requirement of 5Km radius, we submit that Matanda in Mansa meets the 5 Km radius requirement in North, in the Eastern direction, coverage is limited by mountainous terrain.’

‘Malendema site in Mumba can cover up to 5 Km requirement and signal extends beyond 5 Km although signal is weaker beyond 5 Km, it is still within acceptable limits,’ Mrs Mudenda explained.

She said coverage results were not available for Shakumbila in Mumba because ZESCO only supplied power to site in December 2014 after CUTS had conducted its survey, meaning it conducted survey on switched off site, adding that now that the site is switched on, coverage test will be done.

‘The same for Kaindu in Mumbwa, ZESCO only supplied power to site in December 2014 after its survey meaning CUTS also conducted a survey on a switched off site.’

Mrs. Mudenda said CUTS conducted coverage tests on only two sites out of the 204 sites representing a sample of less than 1 percent saying this sample cannot represent the complete picture of coverage of the GSM sites.

She also stated that the final hand over of sites by the contractor has not occurred adding that ZICTA is currently undertaking tests to ascertain coverage of erected sites as part of the project acceptance procedure.

Mrs Mudenda said results from the 61 sites audited so far indicate that 45 sites representing 73.8 percent meet the minimum coverage requirements and 16 sites representing 26.2 percent do not.

The ZICTA Director General said if the minimum requirements are not met, the contractor shall be requested to remedy the defects and where possible, a detailed report of the coverage audit shall be availed in due course.

During the same hearing, ZICTA Director for Legal Services Thomas Malama denied media reports that Chinese firm Huawei has been awarded phase two of the commutation towers construction project.

Mr Malama said although a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Zambian government and their Chinese counterpart, ZICTA is yet to engage any contractor for phase two.

‘Chair, you did allude to the fact that ZICTA has apparently awarded phase two of the contract to the same entity that allegedly failed to perform. On the aspect of ZICTA having awarded Huawei the phase two, no contract has been awarded to anyone. ZICTA as an institution has not awarded any contract,’ Mr Malama said.

At this point, Mrs Mudenda interjected and added, ‘it was in the public domain, the President on his recent visit did sign some MoU with a foreign government towards financing for phase two but that does not imply that we have awarded phase two to the same contractor.’

In a related development, the Anti Corruption Commission says investigations into corruption allegations in the awarding and implementation of the ZICTA communication towers have continued.

Cabinet has today approved changes to the Mineral Royalty Tax regime and President Edgar Lungu has directed Ministers to bring to Cabinet
next Monday details to be presented to Parliament for approval.

This is contained in a media statement released to the media by the Head of State’s Special Assistant for Press & Public Relations Amos Chanda.

According to the statement, the change follows extensive consultations with the mining industry in the light of significant changes in the fundamental assumptions upon which the law was based and the sudden fall in the price of copper on the international market.

The budget approved by Parliament had the assumption that the price of copper was going to be US$6,780 per tonne but this has reduced to US$5,665 representing a reduction of $1,115. Production, which was also assumed to likely, stay at a peak of 959,696 tonnes has since dropped to 839,000 tonnes representing a drop by 130,696 tonnes.

All administrative and legislative procedures to effect the changes will be completed before the next cabinet meeting.

These measures will have revenue implications given the fact the basic assumptions in the budget regarding the price of copper and production have changed downwards. The changes to the MRT regime will have revenue implications requiring rationalization of expenditure, which the Minister of Finance has been directed to present to Parliament.

The President has also directed that the Technical Committee he appointed to interrogate the challenges that arose from the MRT regime will continue with consultations with stakeholders to ensure a robust and predictable mining tax regime, which will be linked to the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. The President hopes that the changes will promptly eliminate market anxieties in the mining sector and forestall any potential instability.

Some transporters in Kasama have appealed to government to re-consider its decision to ban trucks from ferrying people from one point to another.

Speaking on behalf of other transporters, Morgan Sampa said the terrain in certain parts of Northern Province is very bad and cannot be accessed by luxury vehicles.

Mr Sampa observed that many people in rural areas depend heavily on trucks and other open vans for transport and will be negatively affected if they are no transporters to service their areas.

He said instead of the police effecting arrests on drivers ferrying people in trucks, government should intensify sensitisation campaigns among motorists in order to enhance road safety on roads.

Mr Sampa also complained that most transporters shun certain areas due to the bad state of the road network leading to such places.

Another transporter, Victor Musonda, said places like Mporokoso, Nsama and Kaputa districts were hard-to-reach areas due to poor state of roads and were only accessible by heavy trucks.

Mr Musonda said it is, therefore, unfair for people living in these areas to be inconvenienced when traveling owing to lack of reliable transport.

He claimed that some mini-buses and cars usually breakdown while trying to access remote areas hence the need to allow trucks in good conditions to service such places.

Recently, Home Affairs Deputy Minister, Panji Kaunda, directed law enforcement agencies in the country to arrest and prosecute drivers found ferrying people in trucks and open vans to prevent road accidents.

First Lady Esther Lungu has urged government not to relent in raising awareness on prevention, screening, early detection, treatment and palliative care of cancers.
Speaking when she officiated at the opening of the nursing and cancer care conference organized by Malawi, Zambia and Finland networks in Lusaka today, Mrs Lungu says the prevalence of cancer has significantly increased in Zambia hence becoming a major public health concern.

Mrs. Lungu said it is her desire and that of citizens to receive more information on cancer,its causes, effects as well as preventive measures.

She said that information is often disseminated in the hope that individuals and entities will improve their knowledge base and subsequently make better judgments in future situations.

The First Lady said there is need to scale up of cancer awareness campaigns in order to capture more communities. She said the increased dissemination of cancer related information will create the awareness required for individuals and communities to timely seek interventions that will contribute to reducing the glaring statistics on cancer morbidity.

Mrs. Lungu also commended former First Lady Dr Christine Kaseba for having put Zambia on the world map through her advocacy on cancer awareness.

University Teaching Hospital (UTH) senior medical Superintendent Lackson Kasonka said the country has scored a number of successes in providing health care to cancer patients.
He however said that despite the achievements, the country is still facing a number of challenges in fighting cancer diseases.