Lusaka City Council (LCC) has set records straight regarding the story aired on Prime TV main news over this weekend headlined “LCC throws 20 – year – old Lusaka business lady in anguish.”

The news story featured a lady complaining about her Caravan which was dislodged by Lusaka City Council to pave way for drainage works.

LCC Public Relations Manager George Sichimba says explains that the Caravan was placed on an area where the drainage is supposed to pass.

Mr. Sichimba says the dislodging of the Caravan was done as the last resort as efforts to reason with the affected lady failed.

“The lady was asked to remove her Caravan to pave way for the construction of the drainage by the contractor engaged by Millennium Challenge Account Zambia (MCAZ) under the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage Project,” he has further explained.

He however notes that the lady did not want to reason with the Council and other stakeholders over the matter causing unnecessary delay of the project.

He says LCC had no choice but to dislodge the Caravan for the sake of progress.

Mr. Sichimba says it is not in the best interest of the Council to disrupt businesses, especially those run by youths, but if the action is in public interest then the Council will not hesitate to take action.

“The affected lady and the general public must understand that public interest overrides personal interest and there is no way one person could be allowed to derail the project meant to benefit thousands of Lusaka residents,” he said.

He states that a project by its definition has a strict time frame and this applies to the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage Project which is scheduled to end sometime in November this year.

The LCC Public Relations Manager says the delay by one week may result in the extension of the project by the same period which may not be accepted by the funders.

Mr. Sichimba further adds that this is the more reason why LCC has been allowing MCAZ contractors to close even public infrastructure such as roads to ensure the project is completed on or ahead of schedule.