• Patriotic Front (PF) supporters dance in Sichili, Mulobezi district recently during a meeting hosted by Vice President Inonge Wina.

By BRIAN HATYOKA –

MULOBEZI is one of the newly created districts in Western Province of Zambia.
The district has continued to receive massive infrastructure development from the time it was created.
Major projects that are currently being undertaken in the district include the construction of Mulobezi District Hospital, the upgrading of Simungoma Road and the upgrading of the Livingstone to Mulobezi Railway line.
So far, the business community is happy with the Government for embarking on a number of infrastructure developments in the new district.
Chairperson of the Farmers Association in Sichili, Ken Muluka, says the business community was happy that a number of developmental projects were going on very well in Mulobezi District.
Mr Muluka, who is also chairperson for the Business Community, said in an interview in Siichili that he was very happy to note that Mulobezi was developing very fast from the time the area was declared a district by late President Michael Sata.
“From the time Mulobezi was declared as a District, we have witnessed massive infrastructure development which have since improved the face of the District.
“We also appreciate the PF Government for giving us power to our doorstep, telecommunication facilities and the Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) which have improved the life of small-scale farmers,” Mr Muluka said.
He also thanked President Edgar Lungu for appointing Inonge Wina as Republican Vice-President.
He asked commercial banks to consider opening a branch in Mulobezi District as the business community and public servants were disadvantaged in the absence of banking facilities in the area.
Mr Muluka further asked the Government to work on the Sichili to Machile Road as it was in bad condition.
He noted that the heart of Mulobezi District was Sichili and hence there was need for the Government to extend the railway line to Sichili to rejuvenate economic activities in that part of the country.
“I have also seen Government houses built. I believe in the ‘One Zambia One Nation’ motto because it is uniting us as Zambia and that is why we are also receiving development.
“As we go for elections in 2016, we should not fight or kill one another but we should pray for peace and unity of the nation,” Mr Muluka said.
He said the water system in Mulobezi District was pathetic as residents were drinking untreated water.
Mr Muluka asked the Government to address the continued problem of water and sanitation in the area.
A number of youths in the area had found employment in on-going construction of houses and other infrastructure development in Mulobezi District.
“We want Government to tar Simungoma to Luampa Road which joins Lusaka to Mongu Road.
“The Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has had difficulties to ferry maize while farmers and other businesses have challenges to transport their produce due to the poor road network in the He also noted that most parts of Mulobezi recorded a crop failure this year due to poor rainfall patents recorded last year.
“The other challenge is that we receive our farming inputs not in time. Inputs sometimes reach in November when rains are already there and this makes some farmers to miss out on early planting.
“We are appealing to Government to bring by late September. For now, we have not received the inputs,” he said.
Mr Muluka also appealed to the Government to consider helping Mulobezi with relief food as people were suffering.
He further lamented the high transport costs as there were few transporters who were interested to use a poor road network.
Francis Longwe, who is doing business in Sichili, saluted the Government for taking development to the area.
“We have seen infrastructure being built and seen Government efforts aimed at improving our lives.
“For instance, the District Hospital and houses for all civil servants are being constructed in the area,” she said.
Mr Longe also reiterated that the biggest problem which the business community was facing was the poor road network.
“The road from here to Simungoma is pathetic. During the rainy season, our vehicles get stuck on the way to Livingstone.
“The other thing we ask Government is to address the water problem. We don’t have treated water,” he said.
Mr Longwe said he buys his goods from Livingstone and sometimes from Lusaka but the cost of transporting his merchandise was very high.
“We are not using the railway line because the distance from here to Mulobezi. We have a lot of farmers here in Sichili who would like to transport their produce by train as a cheaper mode of transport compared to the road,” he said.
Chiteta Iwano, who is running a boutique and kitchen attires in Sichili, was also impressed with the Government over infrastructural developments in the area.
“We are however facing a big challenge here where things have become very expensive especially the cost of transport.
“We spend a lot of money to Lusaka to order our products and we are hoping that such costs will go down to boost our businesses,” he said.
Malumo Mutakela, who is running a shop for groceries, said there were a lot of developments in the area though the business community was facing challenges.
Mr Mutakela asked the Government and the private sector to help address the cost of doing business in the area.
Recently, Vice President Inonge Wina visited Sichili area in Mulobezi District and assured residents them of continued Government support.
Ms Wina also wondered on why the contractor who was assigned to contract to construct rural health centres in Western Province had failed to execute the job.
“The Government promised you in 2013 that it will construct 645 health posts across Zambia and money was allocated for the project.
“Some districts have already benefited and I need to find out why the contractor who was assigned to contract these rural health centres has failed here because the money has been allocated,” she said.
Ms Wina said if the contractor had failed, Government would look for another one to complete the works.
“Our people have suffered enough to walk long distances to the nearest rural health centres and this cannot be tolerated if the contractor has been awarded a contract and they don’t complete it. It should be taken away from them,” Ms Wina said.
She also said the Simungoma Road, which is supposed to be upgraded to connect Mulobezi and Luampa Districts of Western Province, was already being considered by the Government.
“No matter how long it will take, Government has made a commitment to work on Simungoma Road and it will be done.
“Secondly in his speech to parliament, the President pointed out that if the budget of Zambia cannot carry all these developmental needs of the country, we will be engaging the private sector to work with us on infrastructure development such as the construction of roads. These are promises that we made and PF Government is determined to fulfil these promises as they were not empty promises but programmes we were going to embark on and that we will do,” Ms Wina said.