By CHATULA  KAMPO –

THE Mpongwe District Council has said access to fuel in the area is still a challenge and has called for investment in petroleum filling stations.
Council chairperson Boniface Chushi said the fuel challenge in the area was affecting production.
He said the district only had one filling station which was not adequate to cater for the increasing population in the farming district.
“Access to fuel in Mpongwe has remained a challenge; we only have one filling station to cater for the whole district. The district has grown and a lot of farmers and civil servants here have bought vehicles. More than 100 vehicles a day enter Mpongwe to conduct business,” he said.
Mr Chushi said the council had vast land to give to any willing investor to set up industries and other social amenities that would contribute to the economic development of Zambia.
The chairperson said motorists were forced to travel to Luanshya to buy fuel, while others where buying from vendors.
He said the population and economic activities in the district had grown adding that more than five filling stations would be needed.
Meanwhile, Mr Chushi said the council had sent a proposal to the Ministry of Local Government for the council to implement a boat levy.
Mr Chushi stressed that the boat levy would help the rural local authority broaden its revenue base.
He said a lot tourists were visiting the district for boating and fishing activities on the Kafue River hence the need for them to charge them.
“Fishermen here pay fish levy but tourists do not pay anything. A lot of them come in at the weekend and on holidays for boating and fishing activities. As a council, we want to take advantage of this in increasing our revenue base,” he said.
Mr Chushi said the local authority was still appealing for the re-introduction of crop levy which was the major source of revenue in the agricultural district.