Maravi

Boader security worries chief

Boader security worries chief
By Mwala Kalaluka and Mulimbi Mulaliki
Wednesday July 09, 2008 [04:00]

SENIOR Chief Ndungu of the Luvale people of Zambezi district has said insecurity levels on the border between Zambia and Angola in his chiefdom are becoming an issue of great concern. And chief Ndungu has said about K80 million is required to successfully hold this year’s Likumbi Lya Mize traditional ceremony of the Luvale people in Zambezi. Chief Ndungu said in an interview yesterday that illegal cattle trade was rife in the area because wide stretches on the border were unmanned.

“That is my major concern. The border is too wide from Western Province to Mwinilunga, but we only have one immigration post at Chingi in Chavuma,” he said. “Illegal trading is going on without the government getting any revenue, especially in cattle. It has been my view always that the government should legalise trade of cattle between Zambia and Angola, so that the government can benefit.”

Chief Ndungu pointed out that as long as the government did not move in to sufficiently secure the border between the two countries, the cattle population in his chiefdom would be wiped out in the next five years.

Chief Ndungu said it was disappointing that two years after the government embarked on a programme to reconstruct the Cordon Line from Shangombo to Mwinilunga, little progress had been recorded.

And people in Zambezi have complained of high water tariffs being charged by the water utility company.

The residents complained that the water tariff charges by the North Western Water Supply and Sewerage Company were too high as compared to other utility companies in the country.

During a Service Delivery Forum organised by the Caritas Diocese of Solwezi, the residents resolved to start drawing water from the river as they could not afford the charges.

Kambanji Chidata, a Zambezi resident, complained that water was no longer a necessity but a luxury as it has become too expensive for poor people in the rural areas to afford.

Another resident, Rodgers Sakuhuka, wondered whether the local authorities that formed the company in the province were involved in the running of the company.

And Caritas Solwezi coordinator Frederick Nabanda said development was demand-driven, as government was no longer implementing projects, which communities do not want in their areas.

Labels: ANGOLA, BORDERS, CHIEF NDUNGU

posted by MrK @ 3:29 AM