CATHOLIC LAND INVADED

SANFROSSA MANYINDA WRITES@SUNZAMBIANHE land belonging to the Catholic Diocese of Ndola at which the church is building a secondary school in Bukulungwe ward of Bwana Mkubwa constituency has been encroachment.Despite the land being on title, a man only identified as Mr Nswana was claiming that the land was his.The church is, therefore, claiming a compensation of about K2 million for part of the encroached area of the school project which was at 85 percent completion.Catholic Diocese of Ndola, Bishop Benjamin Phiri, said the Church did not want to use litigation as a way of solving issues but dialogue.Bishop Phiri said this when he called for a meeting with PF Copperbelt Chairman Nathan Chanda to find a lasting solution.“The sisters want the institution to be from primary to secondary school, so as it is, it has now stalled,” he said.The Bishop hoped that the issue could be resolved in a manner that was civilized.He said he also needed to sit with the sisters who were upset and had donors, who had funded the project.Bishop Phiri said the church’s main interest was to avoid entering into any legal redress despite suffering losses.“Let me thank you for facilitating the meeting and for showing leadership. We will continue praying for you for this sacrifice that you have made. I believe that you are very able to handle such issues rather than me calling the President and complain to him,” he said.Meanwhile, Mr Chanda commended the Catholic Diocese of Ndola for the civilized way of resolving issues.“This is the civilized way of resolving issues. After you invited me as PF Copperbelt Chairman, I engaged the mayor of Ndola Amon Chisenga who I will give a report after the meeting.“All we want is development for the community. I will also brief the Mayor and the Town Clerk, including Director of planning so that we can conclude this matter in the best interest of the community,” he said.The mayor said the Church played a key role in the education sector by investing and bringing in development to the community.He said the Catholic Church had done a lot in supplementing government efforts in areas such of education and health stating that it would do everything possible to resolve the matter. The Sun