The Chinese delegation of planning experts will be in the country for a one week visit , to present work undertaken so far and to collect feedback as well as information on how to refine their study from relevant stakeholders.
This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka today by Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Communications and Public Relations Manager Margaret Chimanse.
The delegation of experts will also present a report on the initial Lusaka Sub-Zone Master plan to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning , the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry on December 17, 2009.
The experts will also hold a meeting with an American Consultant who is working on the expansion plan for the Lusaka International Airport National Housing Authority (NHA), ZESCO and also with other relevant government departments and agencies to discuss supplementary information on the regulatory Plan for the Zone.
The Lusaka Sub-Zone which was launched by President Rupiah Banda in January this year is one of the upcoming Multi facility Economic Zones (MFEZ) located near the international Airport .
The delegation is also expected to visit Chambishi MFEZ in Kitwe on December 20.
ZANIS
They are experts in planning but when it comes to workers rights…
One thing about Lusaka Times is you can always count on intellectual midgets Nine Chale’s to come up with some senseless incoherent dribble on matters of such economic importance.
Yes, these are planners, economic and development planners they’ve nothing to with workers rights!!!….you just a big hole on the very ground you stand young man.
And when it comes to workers rights, do your research it’s legislation and enforcement which protect workers, not the goodwill of employers.
In the abscene of such any employer will take advantage, local or foreign- take the issue up with the govt.
#2 I dont know what has happened to nine chale’s blogging of late, I used to be one who enjoyed his comments. of late nine chale has sandukad into a nkalamu, his comments are so anti government that his non partisan stance and nuetral opinion we respected has hit rock bottom, anyway that is Zambian politics for you. the above developments are a positive on the unpopular regime. Am sure in due course all these initiatives will one day pay off, we have for a very long time called on economic freedom, I believe, this move is a stepping stone to attaining such freedom. We shall wait and see.
#1 Nine Chale. With respect (as #2 has pointed out) those guys have got nothing to do with labour laws enforcement. Whether workers are exploited or not is entirely up to how labour laws of that country are enforced by the integrated arms of the government. Fact is our politicians don’t respect the Zambian citizens in general and workers in particular. If they did, no one can risk disrepecting labour laws. A Chinaman in Botswana is a different (law-abidding) character. There he just lands today and he knoows what he should and shouldn’t do.
This is the first time I see somebody writing something reasonable about the Chinese. The govt has failed to regulate these people and everybody pints a finger at them. If they were regulated and and regulations enforced, I am sure it would be a different story. We can have a mutually beneficial relationship with the Chinese people given that they too are a ‘developing country’ and we share a lot in common, but our govt needs to up its game.
What’s wrong with commissioning local experts to do this work ? Let’s hope these chinese experts are only being consulted on aspects where there are no local people to do such work.
# 1 Nine Chale should be left alone,..that posting is only tongue in cheek for goodness sake! People are too serious sometimes.
@2,3,4. Nine Chale’s comment @1, though brief and without elaboration, is backed by facts. I’m very happy that the Government is making such commitments towards the country’s development. However, we must advocate for sustainable development with respect to basic safety and consideration for the environment. There’s nothing wrong with pointing that out.
This is why it will take time for Zambia to develop, we depend too much on foreigners for anything. CBU and maybe UNZA have been producing town planners for years. And yet only the china-man has the brains to this…. This is bu********* Sh******t.
Thats so true. Many of us Zambians have received a Government sponsored higher education but are plying our relevant trades outside Zambia, helping other countries develop their various industries simply because we are not paid our dues when we are able to secure that rare vacancy. Tne govermnet trains us , then consults someone else to do the job that they trained us to do, and pays them tenfold what was our expected salary. Thats simply because someone is on a backhander and is benefitting from the contracts. In my many years in asia, ive never known the chinese to do any favours unless they are extracting a hundred times more than what they are giving. That is a lose-lose situation for Zambia. You want genuine investment and aid, talk to the Japanese or Norwegians/Swedes.
Zambia’s dependency on external labour has of late been rising steeply and should be a concern to the government if at all they care about the citizens’ empowerment. In this case, the least I’d expect is that each Chinese expert will have a Zambian counterpart working side-by-side so that when next we want a plan for Livingstone, we wont have to hire all the Chinese again.
Nine Chale can you defend yourself please. Dont do like Tiger and keep silent.
Let me give a background to this MFEZ concept as i can see most people dont understand what we are talking about here…..This is a concept that companies are encouraged to come and setup investment in an area with special incentives as compared to the rest of the country,and because of this,the goods produced in such an area are mainly for export as they are usually cheaper.This concept has recorded success mainly in china,that saw a fishing village turn into an international city…eg Shenzhen.
Malaysia and taiwan are jus some examples too.This concept was introduced to the late President by one of his advisors,he saw sense in it and he asked his advisor to be the Chairman of the MFEZ task force and they have since identified four sites…..Chambishi,Lumwana,Lusaka East aswell as Lusaka South.Now for those raising questions about why involve chinese exparts…..The answer is that,the chinese have recorded the largest success from MFEZ,so who are we not to learn from them,and then the Chinese are the ones providing funds for this project….more than a Billion dollars…..
And to prevent fellows like Kapoko from stealing,its a policy by most Asian countries that when they fund a project,they will implement it aswell….thats how come all the JICA funded projects are done by SHIMIZU.But a Zambian funded project like the Mwanawasa bridge was done by a local consultant,though constructed by the chinese it was because they had done such projects before.And when we are talking about Engineering projects,we look for experience and capacity,thats how come most Engineering projects are done by the most experienced team,not necessarily the locals,if u have experienced locals well and good…..
Take for example the current tallest building in the world,the Burj Dubai,Taipei 101,kuala Lumpur twin towers,all the Beijing 2008 venues jinmao tower……all these were done by foreign consultants.The locals will definately be given chance to build or jus do some parts….Thats how we work in Engineering,its all about the capacity,expertise aswell as experience.
zambians are lazy and greedy. doesnt matter how many graduates UNZA and CBU manufactures. If they cant even contribute to their old schools, what about the country? they are as hopeless as bloggers. just negative self centered individuals.
Imwe guys leave nine chale alone. The point he has raised is a valid one. Take for example, a story that appeared in the Post yesterday about the progress of the stadium in Ndola. Apparently the chinese guys said, despite the heavy rains they are making good progress and are on programme. However, they are pating workers K1,500/hour. That amounts to about K360,000 per month. Honnestly, wheres is the fainess in this? Judge for yourselves!!
# 1 voice yourself out !!! …………..even more!
#13 ADVISORY is what suits you, if only the cabinet or law makers… whatsoever it’s called,….had a third quater of your calibre, then MEI YOU WENTI, ( no problem).
Guys, we all know that we now live a global village.. but Zed as a small village must come with it’s own vision and strategy how to develop the country… We have world bank, IMF, EU, China-man all advising us how to develop our country.. We first have to define what is good for us and then invite ‘foreigners’ to partner with us in development. Dubai, even the Chinese know exactly what they want and hence can direct FDI based on their strategy and vison.
Valid point pan africanist….but jus so that you may be aware,the Mwanawasa Govt developed a national plan called the 5th national development plan,that is the roadmap for the country,its coming to an end in 2012,and they are already plans for the 6th national delopment plan.And am happy to say we have achieved much of the targets that we set for ourselves,though what we need now is to now come up with another master plan.You should also be aware that we are a third world country,our economy has been very bad.So even as we set goals,we have to be realistic ….otherwise those will jus be dreams that cant even be implemented.Please take time to read the 5th NDP.Then you will see that Mwanawasa had a seasoned team of autocrats with the country at heart.
yEAH GREAT input seasoned economist. We are introducing a new concept in the country and who better to use than people who have implemented such a project before. It is only logical, .. I do believe and very strongly in the ability of Zambians but lets admit that we have challenges which include lack of skilled personell and even low standards at our Universities.So this a very welcome venture The question i would ask is if any of you were opening a private business, wouldnt you want to engange someone with actual experience in the field you are venturing. Oh and seasoned engineer, one piece of correction, the idea of MFEZ was from FTJ, they was actually an institution set to cordinate them
I honestly did not expect so many slings and arrows following my contribution on #1. My inoucuous comment was simply that if anyone (not only the Chinese) want to bring technology & planning expertise to Zambia, first they need to acknowledge us as human beings and respect our rights as such. In times past, our ancestors always turned the other cheek when they were mistreated and exploited by foreigners but I expect our people now ti rise up against injustice. If it is for speaking out for this cause that I’m being castigated, so let it be. I have no apologies for my comment.
miksi ei:)
just to be honest am tired of this country !:-w