Fri, 03 Feb 2017 10:13:30 +0000
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
GOVERNMENT has directed the Lusaka City Council to ensure that all buildings along Cairo and Cha Cha Cha roads are renovated to meet the modern standards, failure to which they should be sold to capable people who can beautify them.
Minister of Labour and Social Security Joyce Nonde-Simukoko said the old and unfurnished buildings around the two roads needed to be attended to urgently.
She was speaking after touring the joint re-development of Society House and Central Arcades project by the National Pensions Fund (NAPSA) and Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) in Lusaka.
“We are in talks with the mayor and I hope the vendors will be talked to so that they start refurbishing their structures. Otherwise, they give us a bad sight. People will not be comfortable to come into town if the surrounding area is not conducive.
“I hope the councillors who are here will visit the owners of these buildings. If they cannot renovate the buildings, let them sell them to people who are able to manage them,” she said.
Ms Simukoko has appealed to owners of the structures to ensure that their buildings were restructured and modernised. “We want to make Lusaka a better city, so we do not want people who resist change. We want to see these structures along Cairo and Cha Cha Cha roads uplifted,” she said.
She also said the new project would serve as a catalyst for the regeneration of Lusaka’s central business district and motivate other business houses to mordenise their infrastructures. And Independent Ward 14 councillor George Daka observed that most buildings in the city have never been painted since Independence.
“The buildings must be cleaned and painted and my vision as a councillor is to see Lusaka turned into a smart and modern city,” he said.
