...as Lumwana multi-facility economic zone attracts 90 companiesVice-President George Kunda (pictured) said in Solwezi yesterday that about 90 companies had expressed interest in the zone to be established within the Lumwana large-scale mining licence.
He said Lumwana MFEZ would create an investment zone that would attract both local and foreign business investments and provide sustainable and integrated business opportunities and growth.
Mr Kunda said this at the start of his two-day tour of the district to drum up support for the MMD candidate, Albert Chifita in tomorrows Solwezi Central parliamentary by-election.
He told a Solwezi Radio programme that the application for the MFEZ facility, which would assist in getting investments to the area, had since been approved and a statutory instrument would soon be issued.
About 90 companies will invest in the MFEZ, preliminary works have been commenced, Mr Kunda said, while encouraging local companies to start preparing to also invest.
And to prepare for increased foreign direct investment into Solwezi, which has seen transformation following the opening of Kansanshi and Lumwana mines, the vice-president said Solwezi airport would be upgraded to international status.
He said that while the Patriotic Front (PF)-United Party for National Development (UPND) pact had no alternative to the ruling partys development agenda apart from insults, the MMD had the Fifth National Development Plan and was presently preparing for the sixth.
He said there was everything wrong and atrocious about the PF-UPND pact, which he said was unworkable, as it was offering wild promises like more money in peoples pockets without explaining how that would be achieved.
Mr Kunda said the Government was engaging Kansanshi management about locals getting more benefits from minerals on their soil.
And Community Development Deputy Minister Moses Muteteka, who is in Mr Kundas delegation, urged the Solwezi electorate to choose between mere politicking and development.
Mr Kunda, who was also accompanied by Provincial Minister Joseph Mulyata, Presidential Affairs Minister Ronald Mukuma, Education Minister Dora Siliya, and Labour and Social Security Minister Austin Liato, toured markets in the district including Zambia and Kyawama.
Apart from Mr Chifita, the other candidates are Watson Lumba of the PF-UPND pact, Muhammad Kalela of the Forum for Democratic Alternatives and an independent, Thomas Kafula.
Times of Zambia
Post published in: Economy