Luapula Province Permanent Secretary Boniface Chimbwali has instructed law enforcing agencies in the area to pursue a local contractor who has run away from Lunga after getting K3.5 million out of the K9million meant for the construction of 20 houses.
The PS said it was not in order to leave a contractor after he gets such sums of money and abandons the site because the funds involved were public funds meant to deliver projects in Lunga District.
He advised that matters of public funds should not be left to Parliament through the Parliamentary Select Committee alone for enforcement but the local security wings also need to be more proactive in following up such issues to ensure that the finances meant for the people are properly accounted for.
Mr. Chimbwali said the Contractor must account for the funds and if it is a matter of incapacity, it must be known so that another Contractor with the required capacity to deliver the project is given the job.
He said though the cost of taking materials to Lunga was high, it should not stand as an excuse for a Contractor abandoning the project after getting the money.
And Samfya District Administrative Officer James Mulenga disclosed that Kansenga and Masombwe islands of Samfya which are only accessible by water channels have blocked channels which need attention.
Mr. Mulenga added that the islands have no rural health centre and only has one school and one teacher.
The DAO implored the PS to ensure that there is acceleration on the implementation of developmental projects in the province especially the road network because Luapula is still one of the least developed provinces in the country.
Mr. Mulenga said the loan facility that Government has introduced to empower civil servants has not been accessible to most public workers in Samfya as only few individuals were benefiting when the facility should have given a chance to all eligible applicants.
Typical of Zambian contractor. What a shame. So retrogressive especially when everyone is calling for more projects to be awarded to local contractors
Name them and shame them, I am sure you have the contractors company details. Why dont you add that to the story? Publish the names so that the public know, some people will even boast about knowing the crooks.
Put the title like this ” Third World Traders TWT ltd gets K3.5 million project money and bolts”
Note. TWT Ltd is not a real company.
Readers, wake up! There was never any legitimate contractor. This is just a scam by government officials and no one will ever be arrested. There are a lot of good contractors in Zambia who do not get government contacts because they are not corrupt! To get a government contract you have to pay kick-backs and be crooked.
True typical of Zambian contractors, one Kabwe contractors was given a contract to build a toilet at one of the schools within Kabwe. This contractor was given over K80,000 as down payment and he just disappeared like that without laying any foundation. When the council was contacted to give details of the contractor, the answer they gave was unbelievable, they said they didn’t have his details, not even the name of his company
Whats the name of the Contractor????? empty article. Call them out
ISN’T THIS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE AND IF IT IS WHY SHOULD THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS IN ZAMBIA ALWAYS BE TOLD TO PURSUE OFFENDERS. WHY ARE OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT WINGS OF GOVERNMENT REACTIVE (IF AT ALL THEY ARE EVEN REACTIVE) INSTEAD OF INSTEAD OF BEING PRO-ACTIVE? IF OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT WINGS WERE PRO-ACTIVE HENRY BANDA WOULDN’T HAVE ESCAPED PROSECUTION. HOW CAN A LOCAL INVESTOR RUN AWAY AND THE LAW ENFORCERS ARE STILL IN THE TOILET?
Name them and shame them, I am sure you have the contractors company details. Why dont you add that to the story? Publish the names so that the public know, some people will even boast about knowing the crooks.
Put the title like this ” Third World Traders TWT ltd gets K3.5 million project money and bolts”
Note. TWT Ltd is not a real company.
Takwaba! You know where he is. Just find him and we will fix him
.Could be a she
This issue of local contractors running away with project money is really tarnishing the names of other Zambian Contractors doing so well. When a shoddy job is done by a Zambian Contractor its headline news but when its done by a foreign contractor its swept under the carpet. Why cant you name this Zambian Contractor so that the? can explain themselves. That is a lot of money to play with
The question we should be asking is what criterion is used to select these contractors? Do they check past project completion, delivery, banking history. ..if you give every cowboy a contract anywhere in the world this is going to happen…take the issue from the tender and procurement process if you want quality work being done!
This is common with our local contractors because it seems we are just good at informing the nation and it ends there. The moment the P’S talked about this was the same moment he forgot about it and after a year this same thing won’t be addressed. Government has been losing money just like this and I personally wouldnt want to see the face of these local contractors
…some PSs just want some publicity…..he just want to paint a picture that after all the govt is not broke….its actually paying out contractors….why not mention the contractor…??…..because he is just talking from abstract…..how do you pay 40% of total contract as advance/down payment…??…usually mobilisation value rarely exceed 15/20% of the total contract value…..just yesterday Mukanga was in the news telling contractors to be patient with the govt as they are mobilising funds to pay them(for the jobs already done)…..meanwhile Chimbwali is paying out for the jobs not yet done…..
Congrats Boniface for the appointment, this good news and a blessing to the people of Luapula. Your drive for positive change has already been demonstrated, your demand for results is evident and I hope the people will open their doors to your great leadership
You are just making noise to us, if you know the contractor go and report to the police. Local contractor is not a name of a person or company. Go to the police with details and they will take up the case, they are not dogs who will smell where a wild animal is hiding. You politicians like making a lot of noise and tarnishing the names of others, you believe in yapping all the time.
Zambia will perpetually belong to backwards countries as long as change does not take place. Change of recycled polititians from MMD to PF vice versa is not change.
Wastage of public resources is at the head and goes all the way to messengers hiding files and destroying documents. We have a long way to go and without real change we are doomed if not damned.
u think this is new. its a very common phenomenon with we zambians . ndalama shalishupa once it lands in our hands. i bet he went to s.a for a month to go screw bitches and get a brand new dodge car.
So so true!! You know the Contractor. So go and report to Law Enforcement Agencies.
JUST GIVE US HIS NAME AND SEE FOR YOURSELF WHAT SOME PEOPLE ARE BETTER OF
This is just silly! You are a local politician branding the mistake of one company on all local contractors.
Are we to paint the local politician with the same brush and abandon them all for hired retired foreign civil servants?
I agree with those who say this story smells of a dead rotten fish. How do you give a man that kind of cash without knowing his contact info including his residence, family etc? Sounds like an inside job to me.