By Staff Writer
Ndola City Council Town Clerk Cosmas Chalusa has called for strengthened coordination between the local authority and the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) to enhance planning.
Mr Chalusa said this when he held a meeting with some WARMA board members and officers from the WARMA Ndola office at his office on Monday.
The WARMA team was led by the board deputy chairperson Elenestina Mwelwa.
Dr Mwelwa held a meeting with the Town Clerk to discuss the best way forward regarding the pollution of the ground water and other areas of concern.
The Town Clerk said the Ndola City Council was a strategic partner and so it was important to coordinate efforts so that plans and permits were effectively executed.
“There is no need for us to be at loggerheads. We need to coordinate and cooperate efforts so that we perform our jobs much better,” Mr Chalusa said.
He said he had received some concerns from the Ndola Mayor Amon Chisenga regarding the lack of warm relations between his office and some WARMA officers.
Mr Chalusa said in order to effectively coordinate efforts between the Ndola City Council and WARMA, all concerns from the water authority should go to his office.
He said the Ndola City Council would take into consideration all the concerns that the WARMA team had raised and act accordingly.
Earlier, Dr Mwelwa said the team was in Ndola to address the concerns of water pollution because of structures that were built close to the water sources.
Dr Mwelwa said the ground water level is very high while the soak awaynpumping station is downstream.
She said this had a potential of polluting the water.
Dr Mwelwa said WARMA also had information that some companies were pumping polluted water in the water sources.
She called for collaboration between WARMA and the Ndola City Council.
Dr Mwelwa also called on the Council to guide Kafubu Water and Sanitation Company on various issues.
She said the Ndola City Council should consider coming up with by-laws to deter entities from polluting water sources like the Kafubu River.
Dr Mwelwa said WARMA had no intentions of accusing any entity of wrong doing but wanted to chart the best way forward.
This is according to a media statement made available by Ndola City Council Public Relations Manager Rebecca Mushota.
