Friday, March 29, 2024

US$355 million compact for Zambia to be signed in May meant for improving water supply and sanitation in Lusaka.

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File:Maybe now we won't see these scenes anymore.In this picture effluent from a blocked sewer pipe flowing freely in the streets of Kabwata suburbs in Lusaka

On May 10, 2012, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and the Zambian government are scheduled to sign the US$354.8 million five year Compact.

It is expected that through the Compact, the Lusaka Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage (LWSSD) project will provide Lusaka residents greater access to water and better water supply, sanitation and drainage services by extending and improving select water supply and sanitation and through an improved drainage networks, lower flooding.

This is according to a press statement made available to Lusakatimes by Ben Kangwa Press secretary at the Zambian Embassy in Washington.

Speaking when he met the MCC Vice President – Department of Compact Operations Patrick Fine and Andrew Mayock, Deputy Vice President for Compact Operations for East and Southern Africa, Minister of Finance and national Planning Alexander Chikwanda thanked MCC and the United States government for this gesture.

He said, “The Compact will be the single largest investment in the water sector in Zambia since independence.

I also wish to thank the MCC for the technical and financial support that was rendered during the preparation of the Compact.”

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) provided US$15 million to conduct studies as well as for start up costs for the Accountable entity.

Mr Chikwanda said he was aware that there will be more work to be done after the signing of the Compact.

File:Effluent from sewer lines over-flowing at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka.

Some of the critical work to be done will include the preparation of detailed design studies for the sub-projects which is expected to be completed in mid June 2012. Thereafter, the procurement of the contractors is expected to take another estimated six months to be completed. The actual construction is expected to begin in early 2014.

“As Government, we are looking forward to the implementation of this project because the existing water and sanitation infrastructure in Lusaka is old and the capacity has been overwhelmed by the rapid growth of over two million compared to 134,000 at independence,” he added.

He noted that the programme only covers Lusaka Province and that the intention of the Government was to leverage for more financing to roll-out the programme to all parts of the country.

Against this background, the Minister said the support of the American Government would be most welcome, especially as the United States continues to lead the world in providing development aid even in the face of the austerity measures in almost all high income economies.

Mr. Chikwanda also assured MCC of the Government’s strong commitment to good governance, particularly the control of corruption, ensuring voice and accountability, civil liberties and maintenance of a conducive economic environment for business.

He stressed that Government would set aside funds for sewer connections for poor households and maintenance of drains in order to ensure that the Conditions Precedent in the Compact were met.

Earlier, MCC Vice President for MCC’s Department of Compact Operations Patrick Fine said his organization was looking forward to working with Zambia in this partnership with excitement.

He noted that Zambia would be the 24th country that his organization would be working with in this partnership but warned that a great deal of work lay ahead if everything envisaged in the Compact was to be completed on time.

“We are very happy with the relationship we have with the new government and we hope that there will be no hitches to the programme,” he said.

25 COMMENTS

  1. Hope this one comes to reality, we have neglected the water sector for so long. I don’t think there is a town, city or village with 24hour tap water supply in Zambia.

  2. Lusaka is the centre of the world, the capital of Africa (forget about all other Zambian villages) where people drink water tainted with their own excrement then wonder why they still have cholera outbreaks and whether this is a curse from God.

    Because this overgrown village has outstripped conventional planning (if there was any in the first place), there have been numerous calls and even donor assisted suggestions to relocate the entire business function to closer to the KK International Airport. An excellent suggestion that would upgrade our lagging international hub status.

    I am weping for this loss, but maybe I just have a hangover and need some supu ya mbuzi. Where can I get the best open fire roasted goat meat essentials (testicles included) in Lusaka? Anyone?

  3. Kid with fly on face gets a new set of posters. This time he gets to sit in puddles of sewerage with a consultant in the background, in fresh from the packet clothing, pointing at unknown object in distance while talking to a group of men depicted as sanitation experts by the various parephernalia around and on them. That’s the before shot. The after shot will use the same big man working hard but depict a different area. Show lots of pipes and a control room with modern exciting looking lit up LED’s. Poster child is not required to attend the event. Millenium goal achieved. Congress ticks a box and Zed does not roll out program because whole country has moved to Lusaka. I hope the local jobs to be created are not just digging and carrying :)

    • Your hangover is worse than mine. Add some chilli and fresh green peppers to your nyama mbuzi. Miracle hangover cure

    • Hahaha. Sadly mine comes from my intention to become the fictional agent of the kid with fly on the face and make some serious royalties. Will put myself forward to make the documentary :)

  4. LUSAKA TIMES – please are your reporters too lazy to do some basic language checks when writing their stories. If you are a journlaist and you go on using words carelessly then you are in the wrong profession. You can’t use the silly excuse that English is a foreign language. The word ‘COMPACT’ here is highly misplaced and makes me wonder the credentials of whoever wrote this story. Read what other African journlists are writing and the high quality at which they place their work. In Zambia we seem to tolerate poor quality in everything we do and it is irritating. Employ a sub-editor who will be checking your stories before you print, otherwise if you are a blogsite do not pretend to be an online newspaper because these are two different things. We want you to do better than this.

  5. @ Chitapi – look up the project. A compact refers to the type of program being delivered and it has been determined as one that involves higher investment. So it is not an error but an initiative set up by US congress to deliver specific goals and it means we pass the criteria based on their requirements. This initiative can be used alongside other development projects so I expect more news to come. 

  6. @chitapi meno,just go bak to yr tribal inclined zambian watchmbwa. Lusaka times is far ahead of yr useless site wich I hav stopt vising coz it only accepts tribally inclined postings

  7. That would be a good time to begin to implement the Lusaka Design Master Plan and upgrade all shanty/unplanned settlements (including demolishing some illegal compounds) – the legacy of socialist economic planning where real estate had no value, hence no incentive to put up decent structures.

  8. This is an ambitious investment by MCC. This, like many others are fruits of the previous admin that we’ll continue to see for years to come.
    Because this project will not be run by grz, it will succeed. If we continue to “play nice”, we will get an additional amount, maybe for a better road network. 

  9. This is good news because Zambia and Lusaka in particular has become a huge pit latrine. Even good residential areas are litered with septic tanks side by side boreholes.

  10. Intersting point but not sure I fully concur. Surely the current government also needs to have undergone the stringent testing and is deemed suitable as a partner otherwise it would have been signed well before. Perhaps there are other projects the previous government can take full credit for but going by the requirements it could well be a shared legacy which should be how all good governance support should be. A continual credit to the people regardless who sits at the top and handed over to the next government as part of democratic handover not political point scoring. Still interested in the type of jobs created as the project will be managed from within Zambia as a partnership with strict accountability and transparent processes set up.

  11. This is step one to solving unemployment problem. Why should we have unemployment when we have no infrastructure in place like ,roads, sewer systems, drainage systems etc. Step two is to empower youths already doing something like carpentry, motor vehicle repairs etc,through the youth empowerment so that they can have proper workshops and machinery.

  12. MCC dot GOV forward slash PAGES forward slash ABOUT

    Sorry LT but you could put the link up yourselves to support the article :)

  13. # 7 ZEMUNTU – Do I intimidate you? Or you just like the sound of my name. What is it with you small people with small brains and big inferiority complexes. Who cares about tribe apart from you with your small head. Outside tribal stuff you have absolutely nothing sensible that you can contribute to any debate. I was rasing a genuine concern and somebody usefully provided a response. Was I talking to you and your tribe? If you are too broke to enjoy your weekend, stop messing it for people who are happy with their lives – like me! I have stopped insulting, because I would have released a big one on you.

  14. Lusaka needs wide and deep farrows and drainages with paved side walks to beat the poor unsanitary conditions in rain and dry seasons. Lusaka needs also to plant grass and trees everywhere to beat erosion and dusty winds. Come on LCC we can do it! Floods must be controlled by huge farrows!

  15. How I wish we could delink from this lusakacentricity nonsense. Zambia is bigger than Lusaka and its about time we re-vamped our provincial cities.

  16. This decay of Lusaka is cut from the same cloth as the atrophy that swallowed zambia airways,zamtel and the disastrous running of mines before chinese takeover.What Zambia needs most is a cultural renewal in our work ethic and less of throwin millions of $$ at our problems.If cash were the magic bullet then Nigerian cities wud be sparkling and working like clockwork but they don’t.And thats bcoz the issue is corruption,incompetence and an alergic attitude towards hard work.

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