The Lusaka-Chipata road has been temporarily closed following the collapse of three culverts between Kacholola and the Luangwa bridge.
Eastern province deputy Permenant Secretary Eularia Siyamujaye has directed police not to allow heavy vehicles to proceed to Lusaka at Fiwalya, 20 kilometres from Kacholola area in Nyimba district.
Ms. Siyamujaye said that vehicles should not be allowed to pass through until a diversion route from the Great East Road is made.
Part of the road has completely collapsed and only light vehicles have been allowed to proceed to either Lusaka or Eastern Province on the only road that links the two provinces.
Ms. Siyamujaye told ZANIS that the broken culverts will be replaced by a bailey bridge from Katete where a diversion will be made, for easy transportation.
She said there is need to replace the culverts with a firm bridge to avoid such problems from reoccurring as the road is of vital importance as it is the only one that links Eastern province to Lusaka.
She disclosed that the National Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) has been informed about the matter and are currently mobilizing to move to the site.
Ms. Siyamujaye was however, optimistic that the transport problem would soon be addressed as Sable contractors are already on site and making a diversion for motorists.
A check by ZANIS found bus operators exchanging passengers, as those from Lusaka were being transferred to buses that were coming from Eastern Province and Vice Versa.
Four years ago, a bride at Nkalabwe in Chinyunyu area in Chongwe on the Great East Road collapsed due to heavy rains.
I had proposed of the need of making our towns and cities accessible through two or more routes. There is need to have more bridges linking Eastern Province on Luangwa River thr’ the Escapment, more bridges linking the West bank of the Zambezi River at Mongu, Zambezi and other regions and more bridges linking DR Congo on Luapula River such as Mambilima and other areas. Development is linked to road construction and cities being cut off 45 years after independence makes a sad reading.
I was in primary school when Ian Smiths people blew up the old luangwa bridge.The current suspension bridge was then under construction as one of the early projects of independence. Its a shame truly that no further progress has been made almost 50 years later
Country and town developmental planning is lacking in Zambia. Seemingly, Zambia in the eyes of those in governance starts and ends with Lusaka and Copperbelt. All provinces have potential of contributing to the economy in one way or the other through Tourism, Agriculture, Mining, Timber, etc. These potential can only be realised if they are exploited. The opportunities for exploiting the potential exist. But there are obstacles transport and road network. Lets us have a road expansion programme.
Thus what happens when politicking is the order of the day,everyday political headlines are given precedence,economic development definitely suffers.
Its high time we looked at the bigger picture of things and not only a road linking a province a sham in this era and age.At least develop new road networks.
No comment some one should be fired. Do wehave ministries that are responsible for such things, planning and developments?
#3 Dickson, good points. My heart bleeds to see eyesore of towns like Kapiri Mposhi, Sesheke etc. We have no town planners in our City councils despite many graduates from our universities. We cried foul against the colonial gvt for developing Rhodesia at the expense of Zambia but that is exactly what we are doing. We are developing only Lusaka at the expense of other cities and we will never deal with the effects of this lopsided development. No wonder all roads lead to Lsk for everyone.
I live in the US and visited only Livingstone, and I’m not familiar with Lusaka and other parts of Zambia. I’ve been learning more about Zambia by reading the Times and the comments. I plan to return for another visit in April to visit a friend who teaches school in Maamba.
CK, you mention Lusaka is being developed at the expense of other cities. Is Livingstone essentially a self supporting city because of the tourism and is ignored by the central government?
Hey John, unlike the U.S. were city councils raise their own funds and utilise the funds in their territories, money raised by our councils is inadequate cover their budget, hence they rely on central gvt. Also, central gvt rakes in all the moneys from every region that has viable industries are do not proportionately benefit from taxes raised from them. By way of policy e.g. construction of multi million Mukuba Pension House HQ in Lusaka (for Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines, ZCCM), where
Sorry above was by CK.
no mining took place was selfish. Additionally, because many facilities appear to be concentrated in one region (just like Copperbelt), many companies have a tendency to build in Lsk than elsewhere. Although in the U.S. the federal gvt does from time to time fund states in designated projects, our gvt funding is inadequate and appears limited creating a dependency syndrome and a sense of hopelessness to unfunded institutions and underdeveloped regions. (sorry …
in #8 did not proofread!)
Thats the service spirit which should be encouraged among public transporters. Government should give credit to such initiavitives such as exchanging passengers at a broked road. Where is the MP for this area? Maybe he is attending the useless NCC……
Tulamyeba. Only pa lambwaza like MMD money plunderers have a say and unfortunately even the post is becoming rubbish like the other state tabloids.
How can a govt fail to make even one extra bridge connecting the land where aba mano nga Prof Chirwa comes from. Aba bantu ba chila and next time nkomfwa ati MMD namui votela mu pawa nshakeseko ku zambia. teti tuletuma amangwe pa zed while ba mambala balelya beka. abash ministry of works and supply
Even Lusaka is not developed. are u happy to have a capital like lusaka when other countries have capitals that are so tambe pantu u can see development just by your eyes. look at the dirty building pa katondo. almost 14 years ago maybe it is reaching its quarter life time. abanesu kufyalo they have master plans e.g 20 years building ku to ba bapanga iya new nomba ifwe thats why bamo balandila ati ama filika ukutemwa utwakusungilila. demolish some old crap and build new modern sky scrapers ala
Nearly all our intercity roads except Kitwe-Ndola dual carriage way, are substandard. Great East Road is one of the worst roads and I do not know why authorities have turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to this road. We need to have a dual carriage way all the way from Lusaka to Chipata. This is not an overambitious project but a must. This venture will make this most dangerous road safe and less vulnerable to being cut-off. I would wish to see a dual carriageway to Livingstone, Mongu,
Solwezi, Zambezi, Nakonde, Great North Road, Samfya-Serenje and Mansa-Nchelenge, Kasama-Kawambwa-Mbereshi, Chipata-Chama-Isoka, Western bank of the Zambezi, Lusaka-Ndola and Kapiri turn off to Luanshya turn off. This will minimise accidents and bring about development to many regions. We will rarely see towns cut of as we are seeing now.