By CLOZZEN BIKALE
Mushindamo Town Council is set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which is a multi-million dollar investment plan with Meritus Development Company.
The company based in United Arab Emirates (UAE) will look to investment at Kalindi area near Kipushi border.
And Mushindamo Council Secretary Pamela Zulu said Meritus Development Company intends to invest millions of dollars in Mushindamo district by setting up a fuel terminal for bulk storage, a five star hotel, 100 housing units and a youth training center among other investments.
” I wish to report to the council that Meritus Development Company applied for land during the provincial expo and the council considered and approved a 10 hectares of land on lease basis”, she said.
This was disclosed during a full council meeting held in Mushindamo yesterday.
Ms Zulu said the previous council agreed to have the investment in the area under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement and set out to establish a MoU between the Local Authority and the company.
Ms Zulu said the two parties have agreed that the Local Authority own the land which will be leased to the company for 15 years and every year, the council gets 10 percent from the company’s net profit.
“We agreed with Meritus that whatever profits the company will get, the council will get 10 percent annually which will be added to the local authority’s budget for capital projects. It is a PPP arrangement, so after 15 years, we can review the agreement or we part ways if we don’t see any benefits”, she said.
She however, said the MoU is yet to be submitted to the ministry of Justice for authentication.
And Mushindamo Council Chairperson, Peter Ilunga said the plan is progressive as it will change the face of the district.
He said the council will encourage developmental projects and programs that will change the face of the district and boost the economy in the area.
