The Ministry of Works and Supply says the redevelopment of government idle assets does not mean selling out infrastructure or displacing people.

Ministry Spokesperson Ndubi Mvula in a statement stated that contrary to assertions that government had sold Jacaranda primary school after being considered as a wasting assert, the ministry was only going to “resuscitate” it.

“Contrary to assertions going round over the status of Jacaranda Primary School that it has been sold, the correct position is that the school has not been sold neither have the teachers been transferred anywhere or pupils been turned away. What government is looking at, is the redevelopment of wasting or idle assets in Lusaka and the rest of the country so as to create more office space for public workers as well as provide a conducive working environment. You may wish to know that currently, the few buildings available have inadequate office space and some of them in a dilapidated state. Some have falling roofs, broken windows, and structural cracks rendering them unusable,” Mvula stated.

He stated that some of the run down infrastructure would be redeveloped and their environments improved.

“This inevitably has negative impact on service delivery. Redevelopment of wasting or idle assets does not mean selling out infrastructure or displacing people but instead, it is aimed at resuscitating or improving the environment in which people operate from. In this regard, some of the infrastructure that has run down will earmarked for redevelopment and among these is the Hubert Young Hostel. The expected benefits of redevelopment of wasting or idle assets are as follows: Promote a conducive working; environment for the public service workers; the city will have a new outlook; the buildings will be of modern standards and environmentally friendly; this will also be a source of revenue to government; this will provide an opportunity for government and the private sector to comingle and intermingle through a mixed-use approach; the use of modern and climate smart building materials will help cut down on costs of repair and maintenance; And this will ensure accessibility to offices by the differently abled persons,” he stated.

And Mvula disclosed that any redevelopment would be done through consultations with all relevant stakeholders.

“It should also be noted that any redevelopment of government assets will be done through consultations with all relevant institutions, beneficiaries and key stakeholders. It is our hope that this will help clear the misunderstanding of government’s good intentions of wanting our public workers and general citizenry to live and operate in conducive environment through the redevelopment of idle and wasting assets,” stated Mvula.