Fri, 21 Jul 2017 10:28:09 +0000
By MAILESI BANDA
THERE is need to stimulate the construction of quality infrastructure to tackle the challenge of unplanned settlements, Lafarge Zambia acting chief executive officer, Chrissie Moloseni has said.
Ms. Moloseni noted that there was need for stakeholders to promote the construction of quality infrastructure in the country.
Speaking during the launch of the Home Builder Centre in Lusaka, Ms Moloseni said the Centre was aimed at stimulating housing construction that tackled infrastructure challenges.
She explained that the centre would offer services to prospective home owners by ensuring that they monitor the project from planning to completion.
“To help tackle the problems of unplanned settlements and to be able to build better houses that are affordable, we have launched that centre which will offer an integrated solution for anyone wishing to build a home,” she said.
She said Lafarge would work with consultants to provide customers with architectural services, material and structural estimates, as well as share construction best practices along with a host of on-site and off- site services.
She explained that the centre would not only serve local Zambians but also those in the diaspora who were looking for a trusted partner to assist them with construction activities in Zambia.
And Ward 29 councillor Dorcus Bwalya expressed gratitude to Lafarge, adding that the company was complementing efforts by the local government of providing access to services which would help them plan and build modern infrastructures in line with government regulations.
“The national statistics on housing and urbanisation are clear, we need to build more houses every year to cover the deficit but to achieve this we need well-planned and managed residential areas and towns as we aspire to have cities comparable to those in developed countries,” she said.
Ms. Bwalya said Government was committed to infrastructure development and stood open to supporting the private sector in playing its part in the process of reducing and having well planned infrastructures.
