North-Western Province Set to Become New Trade Zone But...

(From Times of Zambia - AAGM)

IT is an undisputable fact that once permanent peace is finally achieved in neighbouring Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and once the earmarked Solwezi-Chavuma Road is finally tarred, the area will become the country's lucrative trade zone.

Human traffic is likely to swell as cross-border trade among the people of the three countries will be enhanced more than ever before.

The population of the province is set to increase when the mines attract an estimated 1,500 workers and when other service providers rush there to capture the suppliers market created by the mines.

But most of these people expected to frequent the province would be potential vehicles of the deadly HIV/AIDS, especially the mine workers, many of whom may come without their families.

Going by all these factors, there are indications that the province would apparently top the AIDS prevalence charts in comparison to other areas from the current lowest standing, with only eight per cent …