By YVONNE CHATE –

RESIDENTS of Dag Hammarskjöld Township in Ndola have shared concerns over proposed relocations to pave way for the construction of the new Ndola international airport.
The residents said they would not accept to be relocated from the 2,000-hectare piece of land where they relocated 15 years ago after being displaced from Luanshya on the Copperbelt.
The concerns were raised during a public consultative meeting with Free Stop Environment Services Limited to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before the construction could start.
Kebby Kabindama, one of the residents, said relocating would cause a major disturbance to the community that had settled on the piece of land for a long time and that alternative land should be found to accommodate the construction of a new airport.
“Displacing us against our wish would mean confusion and we are not going to accept any proposed compensation,” Mr Kabindama said.
Another resident, Vincent Kabongo appealed to the Government to revisit the planned project and hear the concerns of the residents that would be affected if the project was allowed to proceed.
Free Stop Environment Services Limited principal consultant Shadreck Nsongela said his firm was only conducting an EIA on the proposed land for constructing the airport.
Mr Nsongela said the public consultative meeting was part of the EIA and the voices of the people would not go without being heard.
He said the residents would soon have a scoping statutory consultative meeting which would include officials from the ministries of Agriculture and Lands, and the Ndola City Council, district administration and the Zambia Environmental Management Agency.