MINISTER ACCUSED

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 11:02:32 +0000

…as Kalundu Mall saga deepens

By Kalobwe Bwalya And Chite Mtonga                                                                             

 LOCAL Government Minister Vincent Mwale has allegedley authorised the controversial Kalundu Mall construction to resume without the approval of the National Council for Construction (NCC).

This was revealed at a meeting between Lusaka City Council and Kalundu residents held to resolve the matter.

The building which ignited concerns from the residents of the area citing environmental and social security concerns among other contentious issues has continued to be erected despite the matter being in court.

Lusaka city council management told the residents of the area in a meeting on Friday that the Local Government minister had authorized the company to continue building.

The council told the residents that the Minister’s approval could not be overridden by the council and the building would continue being erected.

The council management explained that the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) had written to the council to certify that the building posed no environmental danger, a letter which the council have adamantly refused to show the residents.

Lusaka City Council further proposed that the residents drop the case and allow Shumetie Investment to continue erecting the building and in return the company has offered to tar some roads in the area and build a police post.

“The matter is in court, but they are giving permission for the mall to continue being built, there is something very wrong going on here, this building is misplaced and the council knows that, and why can we not have access to some of the documentation the council is talking about. Now they want to entice us with roads. This to me is a sign that they know that the building should not be there and the council is being very unprofessional in handling this matter which is unacceptable,” one of the Residents Mr Felix Kwentu said.

The Local government minister has allegedly allowed the resumption works at the controversial Kalundu Mall by Chinese contractors after the project was halted because of revelations that the company had not followed the legal channels nor obtained necessary licenses for the same.

Residents claim that investigations have revealed that the title deed of property Plot 5477 Lunsemfwa – Libala Road was suspiciously issued in the name of Shumetie Investment Limited on December 08, 2016.

A letter availed to Daily Nation showed that Mr Mwale gave a go ahead to Shumetie Investment to resume works without the knowledge of both Lusaka minister, Japhen Mwakalombe and his counterpart at Water, Sanitation and Environment Development, Lloyd Kaziya.

A fortnight ago, the National Council for Construction vowed that the mall construction would not resume until all formalities had been fulfilled and matter resolved to the satisfaction all interested parties.

And a Chinese national representing Shumetie Investments Eric Shaun said they had written to ZEMA, Ministry of Local Government and Lusaka provincial office seeking permission to continue with construction up to November 16 to secure property, but the construction works are still in full force.

In a letter dated October 13, 2017 to Shumetie Investment limited, Mr Mwale, made references regarding the request to resume the proposed construction of a business centre located at Plot 5477, Libala road, Kalundu.

‘I wish to inform you that by the powers vested in me in line with Section 53(2) of the Urban and Regional Act No. 3 of  2015, you are hereby authorised to proceed with construction works for the above stated project with immediate effect’

However, the residents have vowed to take on the minister and Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) because a major development has characteristics that include distance that the distance that must be maintained from residential plots.

The NCC halted the project because the contractor did not meet the benchmarks needed before the project could take off and among other irregularities, Shumetie was not registered with the NCC.