Maravi

I carry out the worst job, says Masebo

I carry out the worst job, says Masebo
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thursday July 05, 2007 [04:00]

LOCAL government and housing minister Sylvia Masebo has said she is one minister who carries out the worst job. And Masebo said the death of Lusaka Province police commanding officer Wasakaza Ng’uni would have a devastating effect on the implementation of the Make Zambia Clean and Healthy Campaign in Lusaka.

Featuring on a Face the Media programme on Radio Phoenix yesterday, Masebo said certain decisions aimed at instilling a sense of cleanliness in Zambians sometimes hurt some families.
“I am one minister who does the worst job. I do things that hurt so many families but people have to understand that it is for their good,” Masebo said.

Explaining the concept paper on the Make Zambia Clean and Healthy Campaign, Masebo said there was need for people to make cleanliness a personal issue.

“Most of the young people for example think that it is normal to throw litter around because nobody teaches them that it is wrong,” she said.

Masebo also said the campaign could not be complete without improving the provision of water and sanitation services.
“The issue of water and sanitation is cardinal because without water you cannot be clean,” she said. “We are calling on the private sector in their own way to ensure that they have sufficient water for their staff in the workplaces.”

Masebo however said more investment was still required in the water sector to upgrade the supply of water and sanitation services around the country.
“We have for example come up with the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programmee (NRWSSP) for the next five years, which will help us meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” she said. “But we still have a long way to go.”

She further encouraged the private sector to take advantage of the campaign to generate employment through the creation of innovative companies that would recycle garbage waste.
And announcing her decision to demolish the illegal market around the Independence Stadium in Mandevu, Masebo said she was devastated by Ng’uni’s death.

“That is why Wasakaza’s death makes me very sad. The market at Independence Stadium is illegal and I took note that the market must be closed,” she said. “I drove around the city and I took note that in fact one of the first things I had to do today was to brief Wasakaza and the town clerk so that starting from today they should move and remove some of these markets along the roads.”
Ng’uni died in a road traffic accident on Tuesday.

Labels: KEEP ZAMBIA CLEAN, LUSAKA, SYLVIA MASEBO, WASAKAZA NG'UNI

posted by MrK @ 5:36 PM