Hundreds of of property owners in Meanwood Ndeke/Vorna and Kwamwena areas turned up for a stakeholder meeting aimed at updating them on the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage (LWSSD) project and the water supply network works to be laid in the areas. During the meeting which was held on Thursday June 16, 2016 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre, MCA-Zambia Communications and Outreach Director Dr. John Kunda, Monitoring and Evaluation and Economics Director Mr. Claude Kasonka, Water Supply Specialist Lwenga Mwape, Communications and Outreach Specialist Ms. Musonda Chibamba, representatives of the Resettlement Implementation Consultant (RIC), and the contractor UNIK Construction were on hand to give different presentations and answer questions from the property owners. Mr. Mwape started off the meeting by giving an update on the type of works to be done in the areas. He explained that water supply networks will be laid in the two areas and boreholes will be drilled and water tanks constructed to store and supply the water to the houses. He added that the pipeline will be laid along the road and pipes will go up to 1.5 metres into the properties. M&E director Mr. Kasonka presentation focused on the Kwamwena Ndeke-Vorna Valley Study whose main objec­tive was to find out the extent to which households will connect to the new network to be provided by the LWSSDP. Mr. Kasonka shared some of the findings of the study noting that 81 percent of households in Kwamwena and Ndeke-Vorna Valley are willing to connect to the water supply network once it is up and running. “We also did explore the extent to which people with bore­holes are likely to connect to the water supply network versus those who still don’t have boreholes. We ran some complicated model and essentially what we found in that model is that people that are likely to connect to the system from the data set, are those that have a higher education background. People that are willing to connect to the system were those with higher income as opposed to those with a lower income. And interestingly, male headed owners were more interested to connect to the water system than female headed households. We would have expected the opposite since our women are the ones who bear the brunt of drawing water,” he added. Communications and Outreach Specialist from the RIC, Ms. Joy Lubinda also took time to explain to the property owners the role of the RIC in identifying Project Affected Persons and how the process of compensation is done. She called on the property owners to cooperate with the RIC field team that is currently on the ground carrying out evaluations of the properties. The contractor, Unik Construction called for close collabora­tion and understanding between them and the property owners emphasising the need for teamwork in order to ensure that the water system is laid and operational on time and on budget. Later the property owners were given an opportunity to ask questions. Lwenga Mwape with help from the other mem­bers of MCA-Zambia team took their time in responding to some of the questions. The property owners particularly wanted to find out, among other issues, the cost of connecting to the network; wether or not the water supplied would be treated; and if the works at the Kaunda Square Ponds would affect ground water in Kwamwena. Mr. Mwape in answering the questions explained that the connection cost would be the usual fee that is charged by LWSC. He also emphasised that the water to be supplied in the two areas will be treated.