Thu, 23 Feb 2017 14:59:47 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
THE Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB) says the decision to build a shopping Mall at St Marys secondary school grounds is final.
ZCCB Secretary General Fr. Cleophas Lungu yesterday told the Daily Nation that despite numerous complaints from some sections of society over constructing a mall within the vicinity of the school, the project was going ahead.
Fr. Lungu said the church was putting everything in place to ensure that all the processes which were required were met before the project started as no change had been agreed upon that amounted to abandoning the project.
“We are not going to reverse the decision to construct a shopping mall near St. Mary’s Girls secondary school and works will start as soon as certain processes are in place,
“The project is going ahead. You know there are processes that should take place and once these various processes will have been completed, the project will start. There will be no reversal and no change, Fr. Lungu said.
The public hearing on the Environmental and Social Impact was organised by Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) on February 4, 2017, and members of the public expressed concern that it was not right to bring the facility close to the school as that would have e negative impact on the social-moral impact of the
girl child’s education. Some parents called for the cancellation of the project saying it would have devastating effects on the learners and had more disadvantages that the revenue that the church would generate from it but the Catholic bishops defended the decision saying the church was moving into integral evangelisation.
Fr. Lungu said the Church had continued to contribute to the development of the nation through many sectors of which schools run by the Catholic Church continue to record high passing rates.
He emphasised that to maintain such good results the Church needs money.
“The average performance of Catholic schools in the just release grade 12 results in all dioceses was over 75 percent,”
He said the dwindling resource had prompted the Bishops to find alternative sources of income to support education and other projects they were involved in.
