Thu, 16 Feb 2017 14:25:32 +0000
By VIOLET TEMBO
NDOLA City Council (NCC) has been directed to cut the long grass along the high way and within the town because it is not appealing to visitors.
The directive was given yesterday by Copperbelt permanent secretary Elias Kamanga after he inspected the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium, one of the venues for the 2017 AfCON Under-20 tournament.
Mr Kamanga said the tall grass in the periphery of the city was unsightly.
He said the Government, having invested massively in the event, must ensure standards were raised to the international levels.
He said the tournament preparations were focused at meeting standards which in future might enable Zambia to host bigger soccer tournaments.
“The long grass I have seen here is not an ideal way of welcoming our international visitors coming for the AfCON tournament. It is not giving a good impression.
“I am giving the local authority one week to mark the roads and cut the long grass in the city. We do not want a situation where simple basics will wait for Government to come and carry out works which can be done locally,’’ he said.
Mr Kamanga also appealed to the council to clear the garbage which was piling up on the streets as well,” he said.
He said it was heartening to note that the administration had engaged street vendors who have since voluntarily moved from some selected roads in the town centre.
He appealed to residents to turn out in large numbers and create soccer fever because the tournament was one of the benchmarks of Zambia hosting major tournaments in the future.
He said it will be a serious disservice if the Zambian people did not to turn up for the matches after Government was spending K70 million taxpayers money on the event.
Mr Kamanga disclosed that the Zambian Army has come on board to assist in putting and mounting of the equipment received and it was expected that by February 20 the facility would be handed over to the tournament organisers.
He confirmed that Ndola was ready to host the tournament.
Meanwhile, Mr Kamanga said it was expected that the Football Association of Zambia would settle the bill for use of the stadium.
Mr Kamanga said that the debt had placed the stadium management in liability with utility companies.
