Lusaka District Management Unit (LDMU) Chairperson Christah Kalulu says it is working with defense forces and prisoners to control the garbage situation in the city.
Ms. Kalulu told ZANIS in an interview, today, noted that this is because there are so many areas that have been affected by garbage in Lusaka.
She said the trend poses a threat to the members of public as they can suffer from diseases such as Cholera in rainy season.
Ms Kalulu added that the defence forces together with the prisoners have so far done a commendable job in trying to control the garbage situation in the city.
She was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today.
Ms Kalulu who is also Lusaka District Commissioner stressed that LDMU targets high disease risk areas like Mutendere, Mandevu and Kanyama respectively.
She also stressed that this is because the mentioned areas are prone to diseases like Cholera which claims people’s lives in Lusaka.
She assured the members of public that they will be able to see a difference in the city in five years to come in terms of garbage situation as the people on the ground are doing a great job.
Meanwhile, Ms Kalulu said Kabwata is not a Cholera prone area adding that the Member of Parliament or the area Councilor are the ones who are supposed to work on the garbage situation in the area.
ZANIS
Yes yes yes yes, its high time the Military wings of Zambia, that is the soldiers and the Zambia national service do these kinds of jobs, what do they really do? they just get paid for doing nothing, since we dont have council workers, these guys are fit for the job, its time to clean up
#1 May be our soldiers can go to Somalia to help in peace keeping. Some have retired without seeing a battle front.
The LCC should be dissolved and it’s functions transferred to other govt institutions ..! Is that not their job?
What an utter disgrace these councils are. It’s worrying thet they are even talking about decentralisation!
I think this a gud idea, and a low cost initiative. Actually, if the roads and other infrastructures suppose to be built by the military wing…this will give and explain how peaceful Zed. Clean Country is a healthy too. We can avoid some obvious diseases that come because of lack of good drainage.
I would like to suggest one way of with dealing once and for all, with the refuse problem. To effectively, involve the national service (and not the army), the government must acquire waste disposal equipment from China for each provincial town and permanently hand them over to the national service to carry out waste disposal management in all towns. Waste disposal is a multi-billion industry that encampasses even re-cycling, energy generation, etc. This kind of beefing up the national service with this state-of-the-art equipment (or rather technology), is just similar to what the government has always done with the ZNS in terms IFA trucks, tractors, armoury (or guns and ammunition)…
…Only the bove mentioned equipment now ceased to make sense. When I visited Zambia a few weeks ago, I was perplexed to the gvt had bought graders, excavators, bulldozers for the ministry of works and fimo-fimo for each and every provincial HQ. But, it was surprising to learn that more than 90% of their time they are not working as they are never hired-out for private work apart from when there is a co-operative work to be done. Now the thing is whether they being used or not, there is a question of tear and ware.
I was further interested to know what would happen if someone wished to hire such equipment. So, I decided to pay a visit to the Provincial Engineer. The man just told me that there is to much politics involved. You have to go to this and that office and finally to the minister, who final answer would be that, “they are not for hire to private jobs”. And this answer would come after several months. I ve gone to such length of explanation because the same thing is happening ZNS. Equipment is just rotting instead of using it to make money. So, the gvt can transform ZNS into a money-making company.
Its indeed time this problem was tackled
Instead of them just loafing in office and getting paid for doing nothing. Zambia National Service was particularly formed up in Zambia due to apartheid SA, and Ian Smith’s Southern Rhodesia, and food production. There is no Apartheid South Africa, and Zimbabwe is now a sovereinty country. So, what aredundnce. ZNS do not produce food even enough to feed themselves even with such an infrastructure-power equipment. So, why not turn it into a Waste Management Company to combat the filthy of Zambia and in turn generate the much needed cash, while creating more employment opportunities.
ZNS can be a very good case study of “HOW NOT TO MANAGE INFRASTRUCTURE-POWER EQUIPMENT”.
The Military in every country is considered to be an all weather friend of the society they serve. Military in Zambia is no different. They have been going to other countries for peace operations to help those countries have peace. Surely, they can help collect garbage in our backyards at no danger as going to Darfur and die. They can even help build some of the roads with the supervision of the Ministry of Works and Supply. Bravo Madam Kalulu.
when they are not serving top government leadership, our military wings are self serving organisations. human resource dept to serve themselves, hospitals for themselves, canteens, transport to carry own their beer. let them earn their money by doing something for the tax payer. in fact this programme must be permanently built into the system for not only lusaka but all other towns. it would definately make them worth the while. more over the garbage situation is now a more serious security issue than any outside threat.
If I was a prisoner, this would be a chance yakuzwenga.
And @ #5, Peter, why only from China? You have a UK flag and am suprised that it seems China is the only country you know that can provide such equipment.
#1 The men and women in uniform get to spend six months away from their homes living in the bush at the borders whilst you sleep in the comfort of your home and call them doing nothing. Do you want them to be announcing each and every operation they do for you to appreciate their work? I like the idea though that they help keeping the country clean. After all they have done other works before like construction the Soweto market.
It’s pity that a lot of you on this blog think the men and women in uniform are doing nothing. In the first, when they joined the army, they signed up and swore to defend the country and not collect garbage. Garbage collection is the council’s task. If the army comes in to help, that should be appreciated, even if they do it for a day. People should be asking were the council is taking the money they collect in rates. I would love to see all those council employees doing what the army is doing now. Then they would be genuinely earning their wages/salaries. It’s only by maintaining an army ready to fight that you can protect a country.
I guess people don’t call him GREAT GALU for nothing. Only a dog would do that with so much at stake and so much to loose. Kalu bet a journalist
Defense forces and garbage, ba li be nchito ma guys!
It only makes sense to use the defence force personnel to clean up garbage during an emergency such as an oubreak of an epidemic. By this action of calling upon soldiers to remove mountains of garbage the Lusaka city council has admitted failure. These councils have turned Zambia into a very dirty country. For now the soldiers can help but it should not be their permanent assignment.
No the army should not be involved in gabage collection. What is the council for?
We need a lasting solution. Is the army taking over refuse collection, every year. Let’s learn from developed countries and other people. The best way to control the scouge of gabage is by making people pay for the gabage they generate. Households should pay for a weekly gabage collection. We do that here in the UK by paying Council tax. Problem in Zambia is we encourage “Free things” and begging. Those people in Mtendere et al should be made to pay for gabage collection. It is them who generate it and pose a risk of cholera that can affect the whole Lusaka. Unless consumer start paying, there will be no solution to this whole thing.