Chipata City Council has with immediate effect, closed down the Chipata Great East Gate Shopping Mall, for operating under unsanitary conditions.
Council Director of Public Health, Constance Mulenga, says the council has decided to shut down the mall because of a number of defects.
Speaking to journalists after conducting an inspection at the mall this morning, Ms. Mulenga says the defects include the discharge of effluent into the public drainage, indiscriminate disposal of waste and the construction of a storage facility without permission from the council.
She says the council is going round conducting inspections in making sure that there is continued compliance to the public health act.