A company building a filling station on a road reserve in Chipata told to stop

Chipata Municipal Council has issued a stop order to a company that is building a filling station on a gazetted road in Referendum area.
And the local authority has distanced itself from allegations of irregularity in a case where Chipata Mayor, Jealous Phiri and Msanga Ward Councillor Alick Banda have been given approval to acquire land on the same gazetted road.
Speaking to journalists, Acting Town Clerk, Kaonga Namenda says some errors may have been committed but that the council is trying to handle the matter.
Mr. Namenda says that he called the developer of the filling station who is based in Lusaka, to inform him that he was building without any approved plans from the council.
He says that in the absence of the approved plans, the council will be forced to demolish the construction works, seven days from the time that the stop order was issued last week on Friday.
And former Kasenengwa Member of parliament, Timothy Nyirenda, whose plot is situated next to the road reserve, has expressed bitterness, charging that if the developers are allowed to construct along the gazetted road, there will be no direct access to his plot.
He says that he had erected pillars on the road in an effort to stop development taking place along the gazetted road, but alleged that council workers had gone to demolish the pillars.
But Mr. Namenda says that he is yet to verify if indeed council workers were the ones responsible for demolishing the pillars.