The plan to turn Ndola’s Kwacha Center Playing Field into a filling station and minimart has been opposed by some residents and stakeholders.
Ndola City Council has invited written public comments on the pending land usage change after acknowledging that the proposal may have significant impact on the environment, social and amenities.
Mr. Ellington Chipoka, one of the concerned Ndola residents, has written to Ndola City Council to oppose the proposal to turn the playing field into a filling station.
In a letter copied to the Copperbelt Minister Elisha Matambo, Mr. Chipoka said Ndola City needs recreation and sports facilities.
“My area of contention is as follows: Making a filling station from a sports facility is not viable since this is one way of depriving the youths and the public from skills development. In Ndola there is already a scarcity of land (places) for sports. The community stands 100% beneficiaries to a sports field than a filling station or any other private use,” Mr. Chipoka wrote.
“I stand to challenge the Ndola City Council to avail the minute number to the sale of this land. I therefore want to regret this process done without the community participation hence I call for a total review of this process. Kindly immediately hold the applications (change of land use) to hear the community view on this matter of development as there is enormous public outcry over the same,” he contended.
Meanwhile, Ndola City Council Public Relations Manager Rebecca Mushota has told Radio Icengelo News that the sub division proposal by Council is legal.
“The Ndola City Council public relations unit would like to clarify to members of the public that stand Number 1346 which is commonly known as Kwacha Grounds is a property of the Ndola City Council. In 2021, the Council decided to subdivide a portion of the land which is idle and not used for sporting activities to be disposed of for mixed use developments,” Ms. Mushota said.
“We would like to clarify that the advert which is done by the Council is in accordance with the law and as per advert, members of the public are free to support or object to the sub division by writing to the Council. The written submission will be forwarded to the Minister at the time of application for approval,” he said.
The proliferation of filling stations even in residential areas doesn’t make economic sense. Why would a place like Chitubu have 6 filling stations with some either next or adjacent to each other? It doesn’t make per Capita sense. What’s the population of vehicles in that area? We’ve witnessed entire residential properties being brought down and filling stations constructed right in the middle of residential areas! What’s going on? And why is it Somalians and Kenyans alone? If the CIA is still searching for proceeds of piracy that was once notorious in that region, this could give them a good lead
Theres something seriously wrong with u Zambians. Why do we feel the need to shutdown Sporting facilities? This nonsense started with UNIP whose ward leaders illegally allocated land to their cronies e.g. Mtendere. Where are our going to play? Its no wonder our sporting prowess has dimished in every sporting discipline. UPND must shut this application down and safeguard public spaces for all Zambians. There’s no shortage of petrol stations which are just being used for money laundering. Leave the sports grounds accessible for all Ndola residents.
Ba Ndola City Council, you are thugs. There are no playing fields in Ndola. The soccer fields we grew up , you have been made into plots. The children play soccer in the roads. Shame on you. YOu break Lubuto Public Library without appreciating its history, and its prominence in Lubuto community history. The only thing remaining is the conrete slab. You never learnt from Dag. Now you turn to Kwacha Centre.