GOVERNMENT will not hesitate to terminate road contracts awarded to companies that are delaying the implementation of the Link Zambia 8000 project, Minister Transport, Works, Supply and Communications Yamfwa Mukanga has said.
Mr Mukanga said in Lusaka that Government through Road Development Agency (RDA) had engaged a number of contractors to carry out rehabilitation and upgrading works on the Link Zambia 8000 road project that was initiated in 2012.
“As at July 2014, over 2000km of roads amounting to about K7.1 billion have been procured under the Link Zambia project. The aim of this programme is to transform Zambia from being landlocked into a truly land-linked country in southern Africa.
“The works are at different stages of construction and generally progress is being made but I want to warn some contractors who are delaying execution of the projects to expedite or be thrown out and have their contracts revoked since we want to deliver services to Zambians,” Mr Mukanga said.
The minister said Government is committed to implementing a number of road projects to enhance connectivity, accessibility, reduction in transit times and lowering of total transport costs.
“With projects such as Link Zambia 8000, Pave Zambia 2000, L400 project, Kazungula Bridge project, Axle Load Control and the national tolling programme, we shall reduce poverty through job and wealth creation for the majority of Zambians.
“This is why we have made a mandatory requirement that 20 percent of the works on all major contracts must be given to Zambian-owned small-scale contractors,” Mr Mukanga said.
You have a stake in all these contracts how possible are you going to do that,you are the people pulling us behind.
Mukanga you are wasting time by giving us such pronouncements, why can’t you give us an example by revoking the contract given to ROAD PAVE who are doing the solwezi chingola road. Corruption stinks in pf. How did road pave acquire such a huge contract to do such an important road at the expense of these other contractors. The company does nothing and has no machinery to execute the works. Come rain season the road will be deplorable again after being patched. With the commissioning of kalumbila mine, we expect more trucks to use the same road hence making it more vulnerable. Let the chinese do the job as they are more serious than those mwenyes who got the contract. They took more than 6 months to do a stretch of 1km at kapiri, so how many years will it take them to do 170 km chingola…
Hogwash; Pay the contractors on time & there’ll be no delays. You expect them to fund the roads from their own pockets?? it’s common knowledge that RDA is paying Contractors with political connections, but not those making actual progress.