Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) management today resolved to attach a team of engineers to the the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) to ensure that the water shortage problem was resolved once and for all. LWSC has already dispatched the Engineers and they will be stationed at UTH until at a time that water supply is normalised.

Earlier, President Michael Sata today paid an impromptu visit to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka to check on the water supply which was yesterday reported to be erratic.

President Sata was not amused with what he found and without hesitation directed UTH management and the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company to ensure that normal water supply is restored at the highest health institution in the country.

“I don’t mind if there is no water in the whole Lusaka but UTH must have water. People are suffering here,” he said.

President Sata directed UTH Managing Director Lackson Kasonka and the LWSC to ensure that both the underground and overhead reservoir tanks are always filled with water so that patients and those taking care of them do not have a shortage of the commodity.

The UTH tank has a capacity of 1.08 million cubic litres of water but there was only about 40,000 litres when the President visited the institution this morning.

Director of Engineering at the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC), Wilson Shane, had a tough time to explain to President Sata why there was an erratic supply of water at the institution.

Mr. Shane however maintained that his company had supplied water to the underground reservoir tank at the institution.

He said the onus was now for UTH to pump the water from the underground tank to the overhead one which distributes the commodity to the rest of the health institution.

Meanwhile, Minister of Local Government and Housing, Emerine Kabanshi, explained to President Sata that power outages were to a greater extent responsible for intermittent water supply.

Ms. Kabanshi said when there was a power outage at the water pump in Kafue, the rest of Lusaka gets affected in terms of water supply.

But despite all these explanations, President Sata directed that all relevant authorities should find a lasting solution to the water shortage at the institution so that water supply is normalised.

Yesterday, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) reported that normal operations at the UTH theatre had been suspended because of lack of water.

ZNBC further reported that the maternity ward was also facing a serious shortage of water hence operations had been affected.

ZANIS

ZAMBEZI Portland Cement operations director Daniela Ventriglia has been deported to Italy by the immigration department for being “a danger to the peace of the country”.

Home Affairs Minister Edgar Lungu declined to give details saying: “I have heard a report through media queries but I have nothing solid to say on whether he has been deported or he has been asked to put his work permit in order. If you contact me tomorrow, I will be in a position to give you the correct story.”

Zambezi Portland Cement Operations manager Mwamba Kayula confirmed that Mr Ventriglia was flown to Italy yesterday.Mr Kayula said in Ndola yesterday that Mr Ventriglia, 34, was picked up from his office in the morning and driven to Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport.He alleged that the Ministry of Home Affairs did not give reasons for the deportation of Mr Ventriglia.Daniela Ventriglia is the son of ZPC proprietor Antonio Ventrigilia.

Mr.Kayula said the deportation had affected the daily production of cement which was at 1600 tonnes of cement, and that the company would not reach the half production capacity.He appealed to the Government to rescind the decision as Mr Ventriglia was behind the success of Zambezi Portland Cement.

“This man has been operations director for the past two years, he was born in Luanshya, and we still need to continue with his good work at the company,” he said.

Mr Kayula said that Zambezi Portland Cement has a workforce of 600 employees.Copperbelt police chief Mary Tembo said in a separate interview that police were deployed to the company in the morning when confusion erupted.When word went round that Mr Ventriglia had been picked up, workers paralysed operations until police officers moved in.

“There was confusion in the morning when the workers started making noise about the deportation but the situation has returned to normal. Workers have gone back to work and police have continued to monitor the situation to ensure that peace is not disrupted,” she said.

A bitter share dispute engulfed the cement company for a large part of 2009 until 2011 between the Ventrigilias and billionaire businessman and philanthropist Dr Rajan Mahtani who is supposed to have provided the cash for expanding the company.

The deportation of Daniela Ventriglia shocked many workers at the cement plant. His father is reportedly out of the country but his two brothers and his mother are within Zambia.

[Source:Times of Zambi/Daily Mail]

The ruling PF in Lusaka Province has accused some milling companies of creating an artificial shortage of Mealie meal as part of a scheme to bring down President Michael Sata’s government.

Lusaka Province PF Youth Chairman Kennedy Kamba claimed that the party in the province has information that some “politically charged” millers have teamed up with the opposition to create an artificial shortage of Mealie meal.

Mr. Kamba said the current shortage of the staple food is purely artificial and accused the opposition and millers of playing with people’s lives.

He warned Millers in Lusaka not to emulate their colleagues on the Copperbelt adding that PF Youths will deal sternly with millers that will be sabotaging the economy for political expedience.

“We know the opposition is involved. They want the people to turn against President Sata, as youths in Lusaka, we will not sit and watch the situation deteriorate. We are warning them to stop,” Mr. Kamba said.

Mealie meal prices in several parts of Zambia have gone up by over 40 percent with Copperbelt being the hardest hit.
In Chingola and Chililabombwe, long queues are forming outside retail outlets people jostle to buy Mealie meal with a 25 Kg bag of Breakfast meal selling between K70, 000 and K85, 000.

In Lusaka, some outlets surveyed in Kabwata, Chilenje and Matero have increased their prices by at least K5, 000.
A 25 Kg bag of Mealie meal was selling between K35, 000 and K40, 000 just before the September 20 2011 general elections.

Zambian economist Oliver Saasa said the country’s economy has already performed above average in 2012.

Professor Saasa said all the economic indicators have posted positive gains and that all is looking bright.

Giving his analysis on how the economy has performed in 2012 so far, Prof. Saasa told ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday that the country’s economy has performed exceptionally well.

He cited the price of copper which has remained fairly high, the boom in the agriculture sector and the continued conducive investment climate as being behind the positive economic performance the country has achieved in 2012.

Prof. Saasa said the country has also recorded substantial export inflows particularly in the mining sector averaging to between US$2 billion and US$3 billion which has helped to stabilise the economy.

He said the agriculture sector has also played a major role in stabilizing inflation as prices of food stuffs such as mealie meal have been sustained.

Prof. Saasa stated that it was imperative therefore that as the country goes into the New Year, government leaders should remain consistent with their policy pronouncements to avoid scaring away foreign investors.

He said despite all the positive gains Zambia has recorded, the country has the potential to do better than it has recorded.

Prof. Saasa said the growth prospects are bright saying the country has the potential to further grow the economy.

He said what Zambia needs was to maintain the hospitable political and investment climate currently obtaining in order to maximize the potential the country has.

The local economist has since called on politicians to minimize the ‘political fights’ which have gripped the political scene currently but instead resort to dialogue and solve issues affecting the country.

He noted that avoiding political squabbles will project a good image of the country to the outside world.

He said political fights have the potential to disrupt the good investment climate the country is experiencing.

Prof. Saasa challenged government to exercise leadership and bring all the parties to the negotiating table to discuss issues of national interest.

He said it was imperative that politicians do politics that reflect the good investment climate that is obtaining in the country.

And speaking in a separate interview with ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday, Private Sector Development Association Chairperson Yusuf Dodia said there was need to focus on growing the domestic industry for the wellbeing of the country’s economy.

Mr. Dodia said an economy such as Zambia’s can only grow sustainably if its domestic industry is developed.

ZANIS