Friday, March 29, 2024

Mongu — Kalabo Road survey on

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Road Development Agency managers inspect the Mongu Kalabo road

AVIS International Holding Corporation, a Chinese firm awarded a contract to upgrade Mongu-Kalabo Road has so far surveyed more than 10 kilometres out of the entire stretch of 35 Kilometres.

The road leads to Kalabo District on the flood plains west of the Zambezi River and the Baroste flood plains about 70 kilometres from the border with Angola.

Western Province has an approximately 1,899.3 Kilometres of roads of which 745 km are main roads and 1154 kilometres are district roads.

Mongu-Kalabo Road project will cost K1.2 trillion involving supervision of redesigning and construction.

The financing agreement between the Government and China was yet to be signed.
Project investigation and Geo-Technician Yang Yongbo said the surveillance works on the road would be completed by November this year.

Mr Yang said surveillance works took long because most road parts were characterised by flat terrains, deep sands and flood plains.

He said at the weekend that the geography position of Mongu-Kalabo Road that covered the flood plains and its current dilapidated state required concentrated construction works.

He was speaking when RDA manager for construction and maintenance Stephen Malubila accompanied by other RDA officials and journalists from various institutions inspected the road.

Mr Yang said his company was also carrying out other preliminary works and the equipments that would be used for construction of the road project would arrive in the country by next month.

He was happy with the cooperation received from the locals whom he said were eager to have their road completed to ease transportation of goods and services.

And Provincial Minister Richard Mwapela said upgrading of Mongu-Kalabo Road and Sesheke-Senanga Road was a welcome development by locals because the roads were in poor state since independence.

The Government had released K706 billion for the construction of the 221 km Sesheke-Senanga Road that had been divided into three lots and all three contractors were already on the ground.

Mr Mwapela said the locals were grateful with the Government because upgrading the roads would foster economic development in the province.

He hailed the Danish International Development Aid (DANIDA) for resuming funding to the country’s road sector in which Western Province was a full beneficiary.

DANIDA funded the road sector programme support administered by the National Road Fund Agency in Western Province on completed roads such as the 104 Km Mongu-Senanga.

He said the resumption of funding to the road sector would assist in expediting construction of major roads across the country.

He, however, appealed to RDA to rehabilitate Nalikwanda and Matebele-Shang’ombo roads saying the roads were essential in fostering movement of goods such agricultural inputs.

And Mr Malubila said though all provinces should be treated equally in funding of road works, there was need for more resources in Western Province because of its inherent terrain challenges.

[Times of Zambia]

12 COMMENTS

  1. These are the roads built during the colonial days and for 45 plus years, we completely failed to maintain them. Sad that after all these years, we can’t even utalize our own engineering graduates who we simply let to roam the streets and go to the extent of offering the Chinese to rebuild our roads.

    Lord help us……..

  2. 40 plus years after so-called independence we are still using the rhetoric of building major roads as a tool to measure our success.
    No Govt. has built any new Schools or Hospital worth writing home about in Barotseland since the departure of the colonists.
    This rhetoric and fanfare is for the benefit of masquarading the coming Presido and General elections and after that it will be business as usual for the GRZ.(Slumber!)
    Thanks to donors like the Danish who are fighting to improve sanitation and water supply.
    The Zambezi river is just a few Kms from our main towns and yet people go for ages with running water in their Taps?
    hospitals

  3. People go for ages without any running water from their taps.
    Lewanika general hospital is only there to hasten our peoples departures through secondary infections.
    We need new and concerted political and Economic leadership in the province.

  4. The road will take another 5year term to be used as vote buying let us see what you are going to do this time since general elections are next year

  5. It the money to be used on this road going to come from our Taxes or Money borrowed from China??? RB know’s he’s old and doesn’t care about the debt he’s contracting, anyway come 2011, he will pay from his pocket and extradited to China is he doesn’t have enough. There’s no reason to borrow money to build the roads when we can raise the funds locally.

  6. MMD is a wining part. Finish. The PACT is monkey business. Truth!!! VIVA MMD VIVA. RB. The man of substance and integrate. To HELL with TRIBAL Satanists, Satana PACT.

  7. Let MMD finish all the major roads mwa bulozi then we can think twice come 2011. with Sinanga-Sisheke road in progress. we also want mongu -Lukulu up to Zambezi District and kaoma/luampa -sisheke road, Shangombo hospital, Sinanga-Shangombo road up to Sikongo then you crooks are asured of scooping western province one more time. get it from me

  8. The Mongu-Kalabo road is almost impossible because it will cost more money than its benefits.
    The construction is like making a bridge.. Use of Steel and Concrete is what is required including water proofing incase the flood exceed the level of the bridge.

  9. Building a Road is not a sign of development, not at all. Only in Zambia do we have major towns not connected by Bitumen Roads, in other countries they’ve moved away even from Dual Carriage ways to 4 – 8 laned highways between cities and there you go. Only a full will think MMD is working, with what money. CHINESE BORROWED FUNDS, Come on show us how much money from the National Budget has been allocated to that progress, A BIG ZERO. MMD working??????????????? what is there to show. Come 2011, this Country will not be liable to all the debts RB has contracted, he will pay from his personal pocket, knowing his monthly pay is only ZmK11million, will be extradited to China to work for the debt.

  10. Unquestionably believe that which you stated. Your favourite justification appeared to be on the net the simplest factor to have in mind of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while other people consider concerns that they plainly do not realize about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and outlined out the entire thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thank you

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