Zambia Federation for Employers (ZFE) Executive Director Harrington Chibanda has welcomed government’s move to extend the period in which to implement the revised minimum wage.

Labour Minister Fackson Shamenda announced last week on Friday that government has decided to give employers who have faced difficulties in implementing the revised minimum wage up to June .

He however warned that employers that will fail to meet the June deadline will face action from the state.

And Mr Chibanda said the federation expected that some employers would find difficulties in effecting the revised minimum wage following numerous complaints.

He told ZANIS in an interview today that the gesture by government is good because it will give employers and the business community ample time to bargain with employees’ trade unions to reach agreed figures.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chibanda has urged the government to critically analyse the move it has taken not to allow non-Zambians to perform human resource functions.

He stated that it is important to note that there are many Zambians outside the country performing human resource functions especially in the multinational companies.

Mr Chibanda said the field of Human Resource is dynamic and as such government needs to strengthen the Zambia Institute of Human Resource Management (ZIHRM) Act which would see human resource managers being registered for easy regulation rather than banning foreign practitioners.

He has also said that it is important for the government to look at the qualification of people with the positions of human resource management which is also an important factor.

ZANIS

The Zambia Telecommunication company (ZAMTEL) plans to increase Internet services in the rural areas of the country.

ZAMTEL chief executive officer Dr. Mupanga Mwanakatwe has explained that the company will introduce the broad band service in peri urban and rural areas to improve internet connectivity.

Dr Mwanakatwe was speaking at a media briefing held at court yard Hotel in Livingstone today.

He said Zamtel remains committed to the important role that technology plays in any given country adding that plans to roll out broad band services in rural areas are underway and will include creating a 400 high capacity site for 3G and 2G services .

Meanwhile, Zambia will be taking over the chairmanship of the Southern Africa Telecommunication Association next month which will be chaired by the ZAMTEL chief executive officer Dr Mupanga Mwanakatwe.

Meanwhile, the Southern Africa Telecommunication Association Executive Secretary Jacob Munodawafa said the association through its cooperating partners has invested in ICT which contributes to economic development.

He said ICT have played a major role in health, agriculture and education which should be encouraged.

And Dr. Mwanakatwe said he will use the chairmanship to highlight some of the challenges being faced in the telecommunications industry in the region.

The Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) was established in 1980 under a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Treaty on Transport, Communications and Meteorology.

Meanwhile, ZAMTEL will invest US $ 4 million to upgrade its telecommunication infrastructure in Livingstone to prepare for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly, chief executive officer Mupanga Mwanakatwe has said.

Mr Mwanakatwe said his company was planning to roll out the first ever 4G network in Livingstone to enable delegates to the UNWTO download their materials online at a fast speed.

He was speaking in Livingstone yesterday at Courtyard Hotel ahead of the forthcoming Southern Africa Telecommunication Association (SATA) conference.

Mr Mwanakatwe said that his company has since written to Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) to allow the telecommunication company to try the 4 G in Livingstone.

In telecommunications, 4G is the fourth generation of mobile phone mobile communication technology standards. It is a successor of the third generation (3G) standards.

A 4G system provides mobile ultra-broadband Internet access, for example to laptops with USB wireless modems, to smartphones, and to other mobile devices.

Dr Mwanakatwe, who is incoming SATA chairman, expressed hope that ZICTA would grant the licence to his firm.

He also said ZAMTEL was currently rolling out optic fibre network in various parts of Livingstone including around Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport to improve internet connectivity.

Speaking at the same briefing, SATA executive director Jacob Munodawafa called on the media to enlighten the people on major developments taking place in the telecommunication sector.

Mr Munodawafa said the upcoming SATA conference in Livingstone Zambia it would help delegates share experiences and best practices in the telecommunications sector.

Government has threatened to shut down all lodges across the country that are operating below the required standards.

Minister of Tourism and Arts Sylvia Masebo said some lodges were not fit to be operating as such.

Mrs. Masebo explained to ZANIS in a telephone interview in Lusaka today that government was also aware that some lodges operated as brothels.

She said brothel business was illegal in Zambia and should therefore be discouraged at all levels.

She further said turning lodges into brothels painted a bad picture of the country’s hospitality industry.

Mrs. Masebo said government, through her ministry which is a regulator of the industry, shall not condone all those intending to venture into the hospitality sector to run lodges as brothels.

She said Zambians should value the business of operating lodges because it promotes economic development through job creation in the country.

She also stated that as Zambia prepares to co-host the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) conference in August this year with neighbouring Zimbabwe, lodge owners should ensure that their premises were well maintained and were meeting the required standards of the government.

Mrs. Masebo said Zambians should understand that the conference was a huge event that would market Zambia as a tourist destination in Africa and the whole world.

She said owners of lodges should continue maintaining their facilities and operate legally even after the conference.

Mrs. Masebo reiterated her confidence that the country would successfully co-host the UNWTO with Zimbabwe in August this year.

She noted that despite some challenges, government was making steady progress in ensuring that the conference is successful.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Masebo said art helps in contributing towards the promotion of the tourism sector in the country.

She pointed out that government was therefore ensuring that the tourism and art sectors were diversified in the country.

Mrs. Masebo has since called on all stakeholders countrywide to help support the tourism and arts sector in order to build them.

Zambia will co-host the UNWTO conference with neighbouring Zimbabwe in August this year.

ZANIS

Police on the Copperbelt have been urged to be on high alert against unscrupulous individuals and business houses who are smuggling mealie- meal at night to unknown destinations.

In addition, Antelope Milling Limited Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Efstathiou says his company was producing 7000 by 25kg bags of breakfast meal and 3000 by 25kg bags of roller meal.

Copperbelt Province Minister Mwenye Musenge says police in the area should be on high alert and arrest any unscrupulous businesspersons and individuals found wanting in the smuggling escapades.

ZANIS reports from Luanshya that the minister said this in an interview after a business meeting with management of Antelope Milling Company.

He said he has received reports alleging that some unscrupulous individuals are involved in a racket where mealie is been bought in large quantities from outlets and then transported in the night possibly to border areas where the commodity is fetching a higher price.

Mr. Musenge wondered why trucks loaded with mealie meal meant for ordinary Zambians are been allowed by police at checkpoints to pass without inquiring. He said the province had 7 check points and it was unthinkable that police could just be watching truck loads of mealie meal crossing.

He said there was need for everyone in the province to work together in resolving the problem hence the reason his office is meeting millers to get down to bottom of the problem.

He said whilst his office has already agreed with district commissioners and miller to be limiting the number of bags one can buy to two bags, more has to be down so that situation is normalized.

And speaking earlier in the meeting, Antelope Milling Limited Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Efstathiou says his company was producing 7000 by 25kg bags of breakfast meal and 3000 by 25kg bags of roller meal.

He said as far as his company, the company was managing to supply the commodity to all its 55 outlet depots on the Copperbelt.

Mr. Efstathiou assured the minister that the company was working closely with the local leadership so that it can find a lasting solution to problem of the seemingly shortage.

He said management had since resolved to direct all its supplies of mealie meal to Luanshya as it had enough stocks.

ZANIS