By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
Kapiri Mposhi Town Council has closed 18 bars that were found open with patrons drinking beer and they failed to comply with government directive which is aimed at stopping the spread of covid-19.
Council Public Relations Officer Chris Mulaliki says during a joint operation which was conducted on Saturday, 26, and Sunday, June, 27, 2021 it was discovered that most bars in the district were operating normally.
Mr Mulaliki said the council was accompanied by state police, as they assessed the level of compliance as regards new measures that the government announced to stop the spread of covid-19.
“The officers on patrol closed the bars and confiscated liquor licenses as the owners have failed to comply with government directive on the operations of bars and night clubs,” he said.
And council secretary Mr Isaac Zimba has warned that the local authority will suspend the liquor licenses for that fail to comply with the government directive.
Mr Zimba said the district has been recording positive cases of corona virus and there is need for people to adhere to the ministry of health guidelines to avoid the spread of the virus.
He said that it was disappointing that people were not wearing face masks as they leave their homes despite knowing that the disease exist and it is killing people.
“For those that want to continue trading in our markets they need to wear face masks and observe the five golden rules, if they don’t to wear face masks let them stay at home, the joint operations with state police are going to continue as people are failing to observe the guidelines as seen from the operation that was conducted on Saturday and Sunday,” he said.
Mr Zimba said restaurants are supposed to operate on take away basis only and bars will only be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 18:00 hours to 22:00 hours.
This is according to a statement issued by Kapiri Mposhi public relations officers Chris Mulaliki.
