REPORTS about the theft of solar panels from the Presidential Solar Milling Plant Initiative in Chadiza district make sad reading.
What is depressing about these incidents is that they do not only constitute outright acts of sabotage to national development but are an affront to the people to right to access food at affordable rates as well as jobs and be able to provide for their respective families.
These are serious acts of sabotage which must not be taken lightly but treated with the seriousness they deserve because their effects of society is disastrous, including on the very same people that vandalised the solar panels.
An act of disruption to the Presidential Solar Milling Plant project has a whole disastrous chain reaction effect to people and places wherever they occur and has capacity to destabilize people’s lifestyles and livelihoods.
Every effort has to be made, therefore, to ensure it is prevented or immediately stopped.
As rightly stated by Naviruli Ward Councillor, Misheck Mbewe, “It is disheartening to see those who are supposed to be beneficiaries’ vandalising their own property. This initiative is aimed at contributing to the reduction of malnutrition and improving economic stability of the rural communities. So, to me, this is like biting a finger that feeds you.”
The Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF) -led Presidential Solar Milling Plant programme, was clearly an initiative meant to contribute to improving the people’s live through promoting local mealie meal production at reduced costs.
Production of mealie meal at the local level, using low cost solar technology, would ultimately result in the reduction of mealie meal prices and make the staple food affordable to most citizens.
But it’s not only about reducing the prices, but as President Edgar Lungu also once stated, “the initiative will contribute to the reduction of malnutrition and improving the economic stability of the rural communities.”
And as explained by ZCF, the districts or areas where the solar milling machines were being installed, would be transformed into economic zones to provide employment at local level. Training and service centres would be set up at provincial level to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of the solar milling equipment.
“The training programme will target youths in different provinces to undergo training on how to operate the solar hammer mills. The continuity of the solar milling plants largely depends on trainees,” disclosed the ZCF.
From the fore stated, one could clearly see that this well-thought out initiative is no only meant to help lower mealie meal prices but to also generate the much needed training and employment for the youth especially in rural areas.
Therefore, vandalising to such important installations does not only reduce the chances of is making the staple food readily available and fordable to all but also diminishes the opportunities of having more youths get jobs and provide for their family’s livelihoods. As rightly observed by Councillor Mbewe, “It’s unreasonable to vandalize equipment that government bought at a higher cost to help us. So I am warning those involved to stop it.”
Our appeal is to the law enforcement officers to work to quickly bring the culprits to book and to the project promoters to ensure that the communities are sensitized on the importance of these facilities so that they ensure they are safeguarded rather than vandalised.
