Mines, Energy and Water Development Deputy Minister Richard Musukwa says it is shameful that people living in mining areas were not feeling the benefit of the mineral revenue that companies operating in their localities pay to government.

Mr. Musukwa who today officiated at the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) coordinators meeting in Lusaka said government is committed to translating the collected mineral revenue into tangible development projects that will directly benefit the local people.

He said Zambia being a new member of the EITI is expected to improve sovereign and cooperate rating leading to increased investment.

Mr. Musukwa said meetings such as the EITI should be a platform for developing countries to learning and link themselves to countries that have seen the benefit of minerals.

He said despite the failure and delay by Zambia to comply with the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative board, the country has made significant progress in the implementation of EITI.

Mr. Musukwa further urged countries that are members to the EITI to continue working hard and teach each other on the benefits of mineral revenue and the importance of diversity in explorations.

He said the government of Zambia has committed itself to the implementation of EITI by ensuring that it includes the financial obligation support through the national budget.

He said government wants to ensure that it derives maximum benefit from its mineral resources for the common good of all Zambian people.

And World Bank country director Kundhavi Kadiresan said it is sad to see the escalating numbers of people that continue to live in poverty.

Ms. Kadiresan said countries should ensure that people feel and see the benefit that God has given them.

She said Zambia should take advantage of the EITI coordinators meeting and learn from other countries on how they can fight poverty through mineral resources.

She said currently there is a big gap between the amount of minerals extracted and the number of people benefiting from the minerals.

ZANIS

The Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA) has welcomed Government’s move to rescind and revoke its earlier decision not to allow a fourth mobile phone service operator in the country.

ZACA Executive Director Muyunda Ililonga says the move is commendable as it will help encourage competition and also enhance the vibrancy of the mobile telecommunication sector in the country.

Mr Ililonga said the more players come into the telecommunication sector the more the country’s economy is likely to grow.

He told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that more competition in the telecommunications sector will also mean that consumers will have a wide range of products to choose from.

He said Government’s earlier decision to close any possibility of a fourth telecommunication company from coming into the country was not fair to the investors and the consumers.

Mr Ililonga said consumers need to have the right of choice and that that can only be achieved if competition in the mobile telecommunications sector is allowed to flourish by letting other players onto the market.

He said competition would also bring about innovation which would result in a wide range of improved products.

The ZACA Chief has also called on Government to enhance the capacity of the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) to effectively regulate the sector with the coming in of other players in the sector.

He noted that ZICTA has not done enough to protect consumers against uncompetitive activities of players in the telecommunications sector, adding that many complaints against mobile telecommunication service providers have gone unchallenged.

Mr. Ililonga said it is imperative that Government raise the capacity of ZICTA to supervise companies more especially with the coming of more players in the sector.

He said there is currently dissatisfaction about the regulatory capacity of ZICTA as concerns raised by consumers have not been resolved to the satisfaction of the consumers.

Recently Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Minister Christopher Yaluma announced that Government had rescinded and revoked its earlier decision not to allow a fourth mobile telecommunication phone service operator into the country.

Mr. Yaluma disclosed that Government was currently in the process of allowing a fourth mobile phone service operator in the country, a move which he said was aimed at encouraging more competition in the telecommunications sector and subsequently help lower prices for mobile phone services.

ZANIS

State owned telecoms firm ZAMTEL has announced plans to turn its Mwembeshi Earth Station into a data recovery center as part of efforts to commercialise the facility.

Opened in 1974, with its old equipment, the Mwembeshi Earth Station is feared will turn into a white elephant as it fails to catch up with modern technology.

But ZAMTEL Chief Technical Officer Sidney Mupeta said transforming the Mwembeshi Earth Station into a data recovery center is one of the ways in which ZAMTEL will keep the Earth Station viable.

“From the commercial side, we are looking at cloud hosting and turning this facility into a data recovery center for various big organisations,” Mr. Mupeta said.

“As ZAMTEL, we are already in discussions with a number of organisations interested in having their files hosted here. Mwembeshi is a good facility because of its location which is far from town and crowded areas just in case of a riot,” he said.

Mr. Mupeta said the development is part of ZAMTEL’s move to evolve the usage of the Mwembeshi Earth Station from just carrying voice and data traffic.

He also revealed that ZAMTEL which owns about 2 percent shares in the Eassy undersea cable is also exploring ways of linking its optic fiber backbone to the East African undersea network.

“We are exploring those options of going round the East African link so that in case there is a failure on our existing route through to Namibia, we then can have uninterrupted services through the East African route,” Mr. Mupeta said.

Mr. Mupeta was speaking yesterday when Communications, Works and Transport Minister Christopher Yaluma toured the Mwembeshi Earth Station outside Lusaka.

The contractor working on the US$94 million New Lusaka Stadium, Shanghai Construction Group is four months ahead of schedule in the construction of the ultra Morden facility.

The company has so far managed to do 60 percent of the works and still remains with over a year to complete all the works at the stadium scheduled for completion by January 2014.

Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Permanent Secretary Florence Chawelwa expressed happiness with the development, saying government wants to see both foreign and local contractors complete their works on schedule.

ZANIS reports that speaking in Lusaka today when she toured the facility to check on the progress made so far, Ms Chawelwa was also impressed with the quality of works that the contractor has done.

She said the project is of great importance to Government as huge sums of money have gone towards the construction of the stadium.

She said it is the desire of Government to see the project completed on schedule, adding that it will do everything possible to ensure all the challenges the contractor was facing are dealt with promptly for the works to go on smoothly.

The Works and Supply Permanent Secretary said government will engage the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) and the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) to ensure constant supply of water and electricity to the site for the works to run smoothly.

And the PS said Government will deal sternly with anyone found stealing and vandalising equipment at the site.

Commenting on revelations by the contractor that theft and vandalism of equipment at the site has become common, Ms Chawelwa warned perpetrators of the vice to desist from engaging in such acts saying Government will ensure they are caught and prosecuted.

She said a report will be given to the Inspector General of Police Stella Libongani over the development so the police can start investigating the matters and bring the perpetrators to book.

She also urged the media to sensitise the public on the importance of preserving the country’s infrastructure for the public to appreciate the benefits of having good infrastructure in the country.

Speaking earlier, Shanghai Construction Group Project Manager at the New Lusaka Stadium Zhang Zhiwei said electricity and water supply still remain a challenge for the construction process.

Mr Zhang said the site suffers water shortages and power interruptions for a couple of hours every day.

He also complained of theft and vandalism at the site saying these activities were impacting negatively on the progress of works.

Mr. Zhang called on the Zambian Government to educate its people on the need to preserve and safeguard the facility as it was of economic benefit to the country.

And Mr Zhang said his company which has also been contracted to carry out the construction and rehabilitation of the Independence stadium will commence the works next month.

ZANIS