Consultative meetings for construction of a strategic bulk fuel storage facility in Chipata district have started.
Emmanuel Banda, who is a consultant with Kasumwa Environmental Consultant and General Supplies Limited, says the organization is carrying out consultation meetings on behalf of government.
He was speaking during a scoping meeting for the proposed construction of the fuel storage facility yesterday.
Mr. Banda says the meeting was meant to give the stakeholders an opportunity to participate in what they expect from the project as well as understand what the project is about.
He says the proposed fuel storage facility will be constructed thirty kilometers from Chipata city in Senior Chief Nzamane’s area and will have a capacity of seven million liters.
Mr. Banda explained that the storage facility will have two diesel tanks, each with a capacity of two million liters and two tanks of petroleum fuel each, with a capacity of one million liters.
The facility will also have two other tanks for paraffin and jet fuel which will have a storage capacity of half a million liters each.
And speaking during the same meeting, Chipata District Administration Office Kapembwa Sikazwe says that the construction of the strategic fuel reserves in Eastern province will complement the efforts by government to industrialize the province.
Mr. Sikazwe says that the industrialization of the province would not be possible without the availability of enough fuel as fuel is needed to run machines in different industries.