By RABECCA CHIPANTA –
THE Zambia Institute of Planners (ZIP) says there is need for important adjustments in the country’s town planning system in order to prevent the outbreak and spread of diseases such as cholera.
ZIP president Cooper Chibomba has  called on Government through the Ministry of Local Government to develop long term intervention strategies such as upgrading of informal settlements as this would allow for the transformation of the urban areas into productive, clean and habitable places.
He said ZIP knew that rapid urbanization had put enormous pressure on the water supply and sanitation facilities and more particularly, on land.
Rapid urbanization has also put pressure on good and affordable housing leading to the growth of informal settlements.
He attributed the rise to informal economic activities including vending especially in the urban areas to limited employment opportunities and the lack of an urbanization policy.
“Deducing from these factors, cholera outbreak is a reflection of the existing challenges and needs between economic and environmental sustainability in most towns in the country,” he said.
Mr Chibomba appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to expedite the preparation of the urbanisation policy to allow for clear standards and the much needed guidance to  local authorities on dealing with issues of land use planning and public health.
He said the policy would be key to promoting better planning principles and standards for upgrading the unplanned settlements.
He further appealed to Lusaka City Council to immediately develop a comprehensive upgrading plan to transform Lusaka into a planned city and pledged his organisation’s readiness to help the ministry and the council put together plans with proven models.
Mr Chibomba said the cholera outbreak had to be seen from various aspects with focus on four important issues such as the planning permission process as stated in the Urban and Regional
Planning Act , un-organised street vending, waste management and lack of access to safe and adequate water and sewerage services.
He said the annual and seasonal outbreak of cholera had been as a result of the total disregard for the planning process with a larger per cent of the city developing in an unplanned manner.
He called on the LCC to step up its efforts in planning for public spaces and development control by partnering with residents to set and monitor agreed environmental standards for the city which would allow for either  stakeholders to hold each other accountable for the achievement of these benchmarks.