Mwinilunga residents ask Rupiah to deliver on promise
By Zumani Katasefa in Kitwe
Tue 01 Dec. 2009, 04:01 CAT
MWINULUNGA residents have asked President Rupiah Banda's government to honour its promise to have the district connected to the Lumwana Mine power grid.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Mwinilunga district commissioner Webster Samakesa said the residents wanted to know what had happened to the promise the late president Levy Mwanawasa made to them.
"During a community meeting I had with them (residents) they wanted to know what has happened to the promise late president Mwanawasa made to them to, have the district connected to Lumwana. I told them that it is not only Lumwana the district can be connected to. Even Copperbelt Energy (CEC) can solve the problem," he said.
Samakesa said people in the area were concerned about the constant breakdown of the diesel propelled generator leading to blackouts in the district.
"Last week I had a meeting with the residents, they talked about a lot of issues. One of the issues was the procurement of the generator, the current one is obsolete," he said.
Samakesa said because of not having a generator which was not in good condition, the district suffered blackouts from time to time.
"Because of this we cannot effectively carry out our duties, not only us but those in the private sector are also affected," he said.
Samakesa said currently the district only had one generator which was operational while the other broke down and was being worked on.
He said due to non-availability of reliable source of power, many investors were shunning to go and put their investments in Mwinilunga.
Samakesa also said Mwinilunga residents demanded that the government expedite the construction of the hydro-power station in the area.
"But I told them that that project cannot be done on a short term. It is a long-term project and feasibility studies are going on. I asked people to be patient. Unless the issue of the hydro power is done, we are not going to attract investors," he said.
Samakesa said he had been informed that the construction of the hydro-power station may commence next year.
Labels: CEC, RUPIAH BANDA, WEBSTER SAMAKESA
Read more...
CEEC’s failure to fund projects will make govt unpopular - Mwinilunga DC
By Agness Changala
Sat 31 Oct. 2009, 04:00 CAT
MWINILUNGA district commissioner Webster Samakesa has said that failure by the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) to fund projects in rural areas will make the government unpopular.
In an interview on Wednesday, Samakesa expressed disappointment that despite North-Western Province having 30 projects, CEEC only approved and funded one in March this year.
"I am disappointed that projects in rural areas are not receiving serious attention. Mwakasambila, a honey processing project in my district is the only one that was funded in March this year," he said.
"For others, up to now they have not been funded and efforts to get them funded have proved futile because whenever we get in touch with those charged with such responsibilities, we are told that they are in meetings or out of office."
Samakesa said he was hurt when he learnt that Lusaka Province had 22 projects approved by CEEC as at September 4, 2009.
He said it was unfair that the commission only funded projects along the line of rail because it was not helping people in rural areas.
Samakesa said he had been in constant touch with the two members of parliament in Mwinilunga; Elijah Muchima and Stephen Katuka to try and compel CEEC to fund projects but to no avail.
He said this would encourage rural urban drift as people would want to go where the bread and butter was.
Samakesa further expressed disappointment with CEEC officers who did not visit the area to carry out field appraisals.
He appealed to the commission to consider funding projects in rural areas so that jobs could be crated.
"In rural areas, we don't have much activities, this will be able to bring about job opportunities," he said.
And Samakesa urged the ministry of agriculture to expedite the process of distributing inputs to farmers, saying the current process was fragile.
He said rains in the province had started and that most of the roads were still in a deplorable state.
"When we begin distributing fertiliser during the rainy season, it will be difficult and this may affect production," he said.
Samakesa said at the moment, no modalities had been put in place to try and make the distribution of farming inputs effectively.
He said officers from the ministry were frustrating the government's efforts by causing unnecessary delays even on important programmes like fertilizer support input that meant well for Zambians.
Labels: CEEC, NORTHWESTERN PROVINCE, WEBSTER SAMAKESA
Read more...
