Ex-Kitwe mayor hails Sata's observation on councils

Ex-Kitwe mayor hails Sata's observation on councils
By Mwila Chansa-Ntambi in Kitwe
Sun 27 May 2012, 13:27 CAT

PRESIDENT Michael Sata's observation that some local authorities are incompetent and corrupt in allocation of land is a timely warning, says former Kitwe mayor Cosmas Bwalya. Bwalya in a press release urged all civic leaders and other people involved in the illegalities in councils throughout the country to stop.

He observed that over the years, there had been several reports of irregular and illegal land allocations by councillors, party cadres and other individuals without any action being taken against the perpetrators of the illegalities in question by councils and other relevant authorities.

"There is a standard legal procedure for allocating land by local authorities throughout the country and when land is illegally allocated to an individual or an organisation without council detecting such an anomaly, then such a council is incompetent in its operations," Bwalya stated.

He urged the government to immediately conduct a comprehensive land audit throughout the country and where necessary repossess land allocated illegally and prosecute the culprits.

Meanwhile, Bwalya appealed to local government minister Professor Nkandu Luo to investigate and tell Kitwe residents the real reason why the land where Astra Cinema was located had remained undeveloped for so long.

Bwalya observed that the land in question needed a serious developer to construct a good building that would change the face of Kitwe and add beauty to the city.