Desai compound in crime, garbage challenge

Mon, 19 Jun 2017 09:20:16 +0000

By MUKOSELA KASALWE

CRIME and garbage remain the biggest challenge in Lusaka’s Desai township, compounded by unclean and unsafe water, says Patriotic Front Kapwepwe Ward 25 councillor Patrick Salubusa.

Mr Salubusa said to respond to the challenges effectively, he engaged the Ward Development Committee (WDC), zone leadership and other stakeholders to champion the Smart Kapwepwe campaign through the Know Your Neighbour (KYN) initiative aimed at encouraging active participation of the grassroots.

This would also make the ward safe and clean through the formation of anti-garbage and anti-crime neighbourhood watch committees.

In an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Mr Salubusa said the initiative had divided the ward into 12 zones, namely Namando, Chilanga A, Chilanga B, Mabvuto C, Mabvuto D, Chitukuko, Lilanda West, Lilanda East, Kalukungu, Desai A, Desai B and Chisekese in groups of 25 households.

“The biggest challenge faced by the ward is garbage and crime which made the area famous during the suspected ritual killings which shocked the nation last year,” he said.

Mr. Salubusa said the KYN met frequently to know who had come in the neighbourhood either to visit or to stay apart from the group exploring ways of making their surroundings clean and safe.

He said each KYN group representative was appointed to sit on the zone executive committee and each zone was mandated to elect two people to sit on the Ward Development Committee (WDC).

Mr. Salubusa said all the KYN groups in the zone had 12 neighbourhood watch committees with each zone having an anti-garbage and anti-crime coordinator whose cell phone number was availed to all residents in the zone for emergency purposes.

He said the ward had partnered with Matero police station through Lilanda police post and that the Smart Kapwepwe Campaign would be conducting operations and citizens’ arrests to ensure that enforcement was implemented effectively.

The civic leader said the project would soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Alliance for Sustainable Development through Udongo Cooperative which would see the illegal dump site at Mulepele business area in Desai compound being turned into a centre where residents of Kapwepwe ward would take their waste before it was taken for recycling.

He said the project would introduce quarterly awards to the most hardworking police officer, the most hardworking neighbourhood watch committee member, cleanest house, market, clinic, zone, neighbourhood and school.

Mr. Salubusa said the Smart Kapwepwe Project had enabled the devolution of power as the residents have been given control to participate, dialogue and make decisions about their environment.