The project is being executed under the Lusaka Sanitation Master Plan which aims to provide citywide sanitation services by 2035

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, December 12, 2019/ — “Sometimes, it looks to me like surgery in the belly of an ancient beast,” says Herbert Chinokoro, senior water and sanitation engineer at the African Development Bank’s Country Office in Lusaka, Zambia.

He is describing the scene along the streets of the capital, Lusaka, where earthmovers and excavators were digging out disused water pipelines from a major trench and replacing them with new and more durable tubes.

The works form part of the $243 million Lusaka Sanitation Program (LSP), funded jointly by the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), the European Investment Bank, German Development Bank and the World Bank. The project is being executed under the Lusaka Sanitation Master Plan, which aims to provide citywide sanitation services by 2035 and transform the lives of more than a million Lusaka residents by 2021.

The Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC), which is implementing the program, says about 7,000 households in the George, Kanyama and Chawama suburbs of the capital will benefit from improved sanitation. The objective is to increase access to sustainable sanitation services to the city’s two million residents, especially low-income households, and strengthen LWSC’s capacity to manage sanitation services.

“Lusaka is a relatively flat city and suffers from a recurrent sanitation crisis that continues to claim lives through annual outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and dysentery. There is also persistent environmental pollution,” says Chinokoro.

An estimated 70% of Lusaka’s residents live in peri-urban areas, which are relatively high density, unplanned neighborhoods, largely comprising lower-income residents. About 90% of these townships rely on substandard pit latrines which pose health hazards to the communities. Others use sewers, septic tanks or defecate in the open.

Chinokoro says 57% of Lusaka’s water supply comes from shallow wells, which is prone to contamination from the pit toilets and through fissures in the underlying rocks. “The most vulnerable areas are the low-income neighborhoods, making sewerage an attractive sanitation option. Poor management of solid waste and storm water drainage further compound these problems,” he says.

LWSC sanitation engineer Mwansa Nachula says the sanitation program will improve sanitation facilities and prevent water-borne diseases. “Pit latrines in Lusaka are actually occupying more space than water points and there are a lot of shallow wells and dugouts sited very close to the pit latrines, which makes for easy contamination of the water,” she says.

The sewerage work is only the more visible part of an intense and person-to-person sanitation campaign in the townships. The aim is to protect the groundwater from contamination by building improved toilets with fully lined substructures that prevent leakage of waste. “These structures include seat or squat toilets, super structure with customers’ choice of brick or block; render and paint, door and door latch, among other options,” says Nachula.

In a sprawling township called George Compound, which has the new toilet structures dotted across it, Clara Malumba shows off her new facility, erected steps away from her door and a water standpipe. “There is no whiff here. The pit is lined with cement and plastic, so it does not leech into the groundwater. My kids love it,” says Malumba.

Another resident, Ruth Phiri, is also proud of her new toilet, which she shares with a neighboring household, which is yet to build its own. Both toilets are beautifully painted. A Bank-funded program trains men and women from this community to design and build these structures as a full-time business, thereby providing jobs to the local people.

“It is in these compounds that the battle for improved sanitation in Lusaka will be won or lost, and we seem to be winning,” says Chinokoro. “The first hurdle is getting the ordinary people to see their interest in what you are proposing, and we seem to have achieved that goal. Now they will respond more to pressure from neighbors,” he says.

Source:African Development Bank Group (AfDB)

Reuters reports that First Quantum Minerals has begun arbitration proceedings against Zambian state miner ZCCM-IH to try to resolve a dispute about a money transfer to the parent company of Kansanshi Mining, which is majority-owned by the Toronto-listed group.

The arbitration proceedings follow a criminal complaint made by ZCCM-IH with allegations of an unauthorised transfer of money by Kansanshi Mining to First Quantum’s local subsidiary.

First Quantum’s shares fell nearly 3% on Friday.

In a separate case ZCCM-IH began action in October 2016 to sue First Quantum for $1.4 billion over claims that the Canadian company borrowed $2.3 billion from its Zambian copper mining subsidiary Kansanshi without informing ZCCM-IH, a minority shareholder.

The transfer in the latest case was made between Kansanshi Mining, which is 80% owned by First Quantum and 20% owned by ZCCM-IH, to Kansanshi Holdings – the Zambian-registered vehicle through which First Quantum owns its majority stake.

A ZCCM-IH official, who declined to be identified, said the company had received information on Friday that Kansanshi Holdings intended to appeal for arbitration over the dispute.

The source declined further comment.

First Quantum was involved in a dispute with the Zambian government after being handed a $5.8 billion bill for unpaid import duties last year.

First Quantum’s second quarter results issued in July state its subsidiary Kalumbila Minerals had reached a settlement with the Zambia Revenue Authority “with respect to the assessment claim on duties”.

It does not name the figure, although a separate document seen by Reuters shows the figure to be 304 million Zambian kwacha ($21 million).

Tensions have been running high between western mining companies and several African governments this year as they have sought to increase their share of revenues from national resources.

Mumbai-listed Vedanta has been locked in a dispute with the Zambian government since May, when Lusaka appointed a liquidator to run Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), which is 20% owned by Zambian state mining company ZCCM and the rest by Vedanta. ($1 = 14.3500 Zambian kwachas) (Reporting by Chris Mfula Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis and Jeff Lewis in Toronto Writing by Tim Cocks Editing by Louise Heavens and Grant McCool)

The Zambia Land Alliance is concerned with reports that Grandview Academy wants the residents of Chitalo and Shangoma villages of the Shimabala area, Kafue district to exhume and relocate the remains of their relatives that were buried near the school.

Research by the Alliance has revealed that Grandview Academy has been constructed on a portion of land adjacent to an old burial site which was used by the people of the two named villages up to 2009.

Patrick Musole, the Alliance Executive Director said this burial site is now closed but the school has since directed the community members in the two villages of Chitalo and Shangoma to exhume the remains of their relatives and relocate them so that the school can construct teachers’ houses on the gravesite.

Mr Musole said the Alliance has been informed that the school is willing to provide coffins and labour to exhume the remains, but have not provided alternative land to rebury the remains.

“One family is claiming to have six family members buried on the same site. Zambia Land Alliance is of the view that this is not only unprecedented but unZambian and is at odds with our cultural norms and values that respect the dead”, he said.

Mr. Musole said the Alliance has seen graveyards that sit on land that has been acquired by investors, including foreign investors.

“Out of respect for our cultural values and norms, they have only fenced off the gravesites without tempering with them, while allowing relatives access to the gravesites. We have seen that in Kalumbila, Mpongwe, and even within Lusaka, behind Manda Hill Shopping Mall”, he added.

Mr. Musole said the Alliance, therefore, finds this excessive appetite for land by the Management of Grandview Academy to the point of not minding displacing the dead, unacceptable.

He has called on the Ministry of Religious Affairs and National Guidance, Chiefs and Traditional Affairs to intervene and protect that gravesite.

Mr. Musole has also advised members of the public, institutions and all stakeholders that as the Alliance welcomes development in this country, it is the duty of every Zambian to protect cultural heritage, values, and norms that define Zambia as a people.

Horizon School situated in Kabulonga area in Lusaka is on the verge of being demolished to pave way for the Construction of a Shopping Mall.

The information has emerged that President Edgar Lungu wants to buy the land on which the school sits for the construction of a shopping mall.

Leslie Mbula, the Board Chairperson for Horizon School has confirmed seeing a Government Gazette which shows that the President has expressed interest to buy off the land.

Mr Mbula has lamented that once displaced; the over 500 pupils and 46 teachers employed will have nowhere to go as they cannot fit in government schools due to the discipline they have learnt.

He has since appealed to President Edgar Lungu to rescind his decision to buy off the land and allow the pupils to continue with their education.

Efforts to get a comment from Lands and Natural Resources Minister Jean Kapata and her General Education Counterpart David Mabumba proved futile by broadcast time.

In August this year, Lusaka Province Minister Bowman Lusambo ordered the demolition of Malata Market in Kabulonga which is adjacent to Horizon school.

The traders at the market accused Mr. Lusambo of selling the land to investors who now want to develop the area but Lusaka Mayor Miles Sampa said though the settlement is illegal; an alternative site has to be found before evicting the residents.

Vice President Inonge Wina says the government has no intention of disbanding the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).

Ms. Wina has said there are currently no compelling reasons to disband the institution.

The Vice President also says the FIC will not be merged with any other investigative institution.

She says the FIC has been formed under the Patriotic Front (PF) administration through an Act of parliament.

She was reacting to United Party for National Development -UPND Mongu Central Member of Parliament Mwilola Imakando in parliament today who sought clarification on allegations that the government wants to merge FIC with one of the Investigative institutions.

This was during the Vice President’s Question Time for Oral Answer.

National Democratic Congress Leader Chishimba Kambwili says Government is not serious in addressing the power deficit that the country is facing.

And Dr. Kambwili has challenged Government to state the exact position on the much talked about Zesco/Eskom deal.

Dr Kambwili said the Zesco/Eskom deal seems to be a none starter because of conflicting statements coming out of Eskom in South Africa and Zesco management.

Earlier this week, Eskom officials told authorities in South Africa that they had shelved intentions of exporting power to other SADC countries including Zambia because they too are facing a power deficit.

Dr. Kambwili is urging Government to find a pragmatic approach immediately to hand the acute power shortage.

He has also challenged Zambians to be proactive and speak out on issues affecting them.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kambwili has advised President Edgar Lungu to discipline his political advisor Kaizer Zulu following latest assault allegations involving the controversial State House aide.