Thu, 11 Jan 2018 09:11:21 +0000
By VIOLET TEMBO
THE Chililabombwe Municipal Council (CMC) has installed street lights in 10 wards at the cost of K750, 000.
Speaking in an interview with Daily Nation, Mayor Christabel Mulala disclosed that the funds used were sourced from the 2017 ward allocation fund (WDC).
Ms.Mulala explained that the project ran into deficit as the earlier budget was K65, 000 and the exercise required K75, 000 for successful completion.
She said it took the effort of her office and the area member of Parliament (MP) to source for the deficit that was required to complete the project.
She said the project was on-going and it was the desire of the local authority to ensure that the entire district was lit for security reasons.
She appealed to the community to have a sense of ownership and safe guard the new installations from vandals.
She stated that prior to lighting the communities, incidences of crime recorded on a daily basis was high. “Last year’s ward fund, we looked at priority and street lighting was topping the list. The budget for the project was K75, 000 per ward but what was available was only K65, 000, and hence we ran into a deficit. Funds were sourced and we earmarked to light one street per ward. “The development has been welcomed by the communities because in the past
we recorded numerous reports of people being attacked in the night as criminals took advantage of the dark.
“I want to appeal to residents to protect the installations from vandals because it is not my office or the MP that suffers when such facilities are absent,” she said.
Ms. Mulala has also urged motorists to drive with care saying the council would charge careless motorists knocking down the poles.
Meanwhile, the local authority in Chililabombwe has embarked on clearing the heaps of garbage at Kasumbalesa market bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Ms. Mulala said the exercise commenced early this week and machinery was on ground.
She added that drainages in the central business district (CBD) and communities had been cleared but indiscriminate disposal of waste by communities was the major setback for the council.
She appealed to the residents to manage waste and dispose in official designated locations.
She emphasised that the local authority would make efforts to ensure that the district attained status of being the cleanest in the province.
She warned that residents found dumping waste in drainages would be penalised.
