Today's letters to the editor

Fri, 05 May 2017 11:31:00 +0000

What has happened to the DCs?

Dear Editor

 I write to air my concern about the general consensus from many stakeholders who feel the gallant exploits seen in the District Commissioners of yester years has slowly faded.

One wonders what has gone wrong to make this very important office to be so silent on a lot of Government programs.

The crop of District Commissioners currently need to really pull their socks to be of relevance to the Government and the general populous.

Of course there are some who are alive to the task but the rest are not doing enough creating a lot of misgivings from the citizens.

 Wisdom Muyunda CHINGOLA

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Toxic air pollution in Mukwa Road

Dear Editor,

 This is an urgent appeal to the ministry of health and ZEMA to come to our aid before people we begin to die from air poisoning.

In this road from Yalelo fish company down to ZECCO, there are number of firms dealing agriculture chemicals who are carelessly releasing toxic fumes into the air. The chemicals are extremely pungent and can be smelt way down the whole Mukwa Road.

We have made repeated calls in the past to health authorities to visit these companies who are polluting the atmosphere with impunity.

Just after Yalelo the drainage is equally filled up with smelly dark looking substance which is being daily discharged there without any care to the environment.

Many people downstream are complaining of eye irritations and chest pains because of inhaling this polluted air. Definitely something is terribly wrong.

Is our government waiting for us to start dying or developing acute pulmonary diseases for it to take action?

Please come to our  aid quickly before we take the law into our hands and start suing these firms as citizens because this has been going on for too long now.

David Eric,

heavy industrial area

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Kenyan political party maturity

Dear Editor,

 I write to commend the maturity of Kenyan politics as they prepare themselves for the upcoming general elections.

The resolve by five main opposition political parties to rally behind one party leader is a true sense of democracy not seen in most African politics.

The five have indicated their support for Laila Odinga to oust the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

This proves that the parties concerned have the interest of the general populous and not on individuality.

I hope most African Countries could learn something from the maturity being exhibited by the Kenyan political leaders whose resolve is to alleviate the welfare of the people.

It also proves that they are not power hungry. Concerned citizen

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Crime wave on the increase in Lusaka

Dear Editor,

 The high crime wave that has rocked Lusaka City particularly the residential areas is a source of concern, and surely something must be done to avert the vice.

Many people are being attacked and robbed of their household properties during night time.

High density areas such as George, Kanyama, Mandevu, John Laing and Misisi are most prone crime attacks.

People can be attacked at night when going back home either from work or business errands.

There is hardly a day passes without hearing of people being robbed of their household goods through burglary and other forms of crime as devised by these criminals.  If the above are not good enough, murder cases have also skyrocketed as evidenced by some people slain in cold blood. T

To avert the high crime rate in the city, I earnestly appeal to the police command to intensify night patrols.

The Zambia Police Service should consider reintroducing the neighbourhood watch groups to work in conjunction with the police during night patrols.

On the other hand, people should report all suspected criminals in the community to the nearest Police Stations and Police Posts.

People are living in fear of being raided by thieves especially at night. It is high time the police did something to combat high crime wave in Lusaka.

Elemiya Phiri, Lusaka.

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Don’t abuse toll gate fees

Dear Editor,

 The call by President Edgar Lungu to properly account for the money raised from the toll gates is timely and should be commended by everyone.

The sentiment was issued by the head of State when he commissioned the Katuba, Shimabala and Chisamba toll plazas on Friday April 28, 2017.

The toll plazas were constructed at a cost of $10 million and it is projected that K20 million will be raised per month from each toll gate.

The money raised will be used in the construction and maintenance of roads across the country.

Good road network is of economic value to the country. This is because it facilitates the smooth transportation of goods and services within the country and across.

For more roads to be constructed and maintained, there is need to properly account for every ngwee raised from the toll gates by those entrusted with the task of raising such funds as alluded by the head of State during commissioning of the three toll plazas.

Any misappropriation of the funds by the officers should face the wrath of the law.

The country is in dire need of good road infrastructures. As such, it is imperative that the funds should be used for the intended purpose.  EP, Lusaka.

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ZRA right on amnesty of waiver of penalties and  interests 

Dear Editor,

 The move by Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) on amnesty waiver of penalties and interests on outstanding taxes by defaulters is progressive and a relief to entrepreneurs.

Remittance of tax to ZRA is law. Failure to honour the tax obligation is an offence punishable by law.

The punishment can either be prosecution or closure of the enterprise

Many entrepreneurs have been defaulting in paying taxes to ZRA. Hence, owing the authority colossal sums of money.

For whatever reasons the entrepreneurs default in honouring tax obligations, this money has to be recovered by the government and used for development projects.

ZRA has offered a 100 percent amnesty waiver on outstanding taxes by waiving penalties and interests on the principal amount. The amnesty is from April 24, 2017 to July 31, 2017.

This means that the taxpayers in arrears will only pay the principal amount through a flexible payment plan.

However, the amnesty is subject to extension. One thing worth noting is that the defaulting entrepreneurs will only be granted the waiver upon payment of the principal amount in full.

Over and above, the amnesty waiver is a progressive move and it provides relief to the entrepreneurs who are owing ZRA.  Concerned citizen