By SIMON MUNTEMBA
THE Lusaka City Council (LCC) has defied a directive from the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Elijah Muchima to halt the planned demolition of structures in Forest 27.
Despite Government halting plans to demolish structures in Lusaka’s Forest 27 area, the local authority had not withdrawn the demolition enforcement notices that were served on affected land developers.
Former minister of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs, Lawrence Sichalwe disclosed yesterday that despite Mr Muchima halting plans to demolish structures in Forest 27, he had appealed to the Urban and Reginal Planning Tribunal because the enforcement notice served to him was not withdrawn.
In an interview, Mr Sichalwe wondered why Mr Muchima halted the planned demolition of all structures in Forest 27 without instructing the LCC to withdraw the enforcement notices served on developers.
“Despite the halting of demolition, I for one have gone ahead and appealed to the tribunal because that enforcement notice that was served on me has not been withdrawn,” he said.
At the weekend, Mr Muchima said, “We are not going to demolish any structure before the report that will inform us what exactly happened is released.”
The minister said Government would decide the course of action to take on people who had built in the forest reserve after reviewing the report. Efforts to get a comment from Mr Muchima on why the notices were not withdrawn from some affected individuals proved futile by press time as his mobile phone went unanswered.
