Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Chanda Kasolo, has called for the cancellation of the 15 km Katete urban roads project.
Mr Kasolo, who toured selected projects in Katete district yesterday, suspected corruption in the manner the contractor was awarded. He directed the cancellation soon after conduction a site visit on St Francis Mission Hospital 700-meters stretch from Great East Road.
Mr Kasolo said there was urgent need for the matter to be forwarded to the National Roads Fund (NRF) and ensure that no money is paid to the contractor as the works done were contrary to what government expected.
He stated that there was need for proper scrutiny of the contractor before awarding him the urban roads project.
The PS also called for verification of previous works done by the same contractor elsewhere to ascertain proof of capacity.
Mr Kasolo observed that with the coming of the rainy season most roads done will have potholes as they have been structured without proper drainage systems.
He observed that the contractor, identified as Nakangea, seemed to have no idea of what the project was about.
Mr Kasolo said government contracted him to raise 15 km of Katete district urban roads to bituminous standard but that the works done show that the contractor has failed to meet the expected work target and standard.
However, Katete District Council Director of Works, Moffat Nyirenda, informed the Permanent Secretary that Nakangea’s contract came to an end and has since applied for an extension.
But Mr Kasolo who expressed displeasure at the contractor’s work instructed Katete District Commissioner to find out how much was paid to the contractor for the job done and further check the record of where he has done similar contracts before.
He added that for anyone to be given a big project such as urban roads rehabilitation they should prove their competence.
The Permanent Secretary explained that government is spending a lot of money on improving the road infrastructure and will not allow any waste of resources.
He stated that it is shameful to see such works when government is spending money to improve its people’s lives.
Meanwhile Mr Kasolo has further directed the Katete District Council to quickly obtain a court order to demolish structures built on government land without authority.
Speaking when he toured Katete Riverside Boarding School area where the local council reported of a matter where the owner of the boarding school has embarked on construction of dormitories and other facilities on state land without authority, Mr Kasolo said government will not tolerate anarchy in the country.
He said no one should be allowed to build any structure on state land without authority.
There is a lot of corruption in govt.Civil servants are too corrupt such that even a minister is corrupted from the same civil servants.it’s unbelievable that even a malonda(security officer) knows how to steal money.Iwe the country is full of corrupt citizens.Tapali where we’ll go even if u change da govt coz the root cause is a civil servant.They are not professional bane.Everyone is building and na bamalonda kumo.where do they get money?Rtsa yena worse.If i were a president i would first ban RTSA and remove all cadres at RTSA empower professional police officers.Zambia is losing billions of dollars coz it’s citizens starting from DEC,ACC,RTSA,Police,NGOs etc.Pipo should repent otherwise the country is gone coz of love of money.The president should start firing corrupt civil…
where are the “urban” roads in Katete? Such a small rural town… hope this all gets sorted out!