ACTING President Inonge Wina yesterday launched the K16.2 billion countrywide rehabilitation and maintenance programme for primary feeder roads.
And in a rare feat, Mrs Wina charmed Litoya residents when she operated a grader to signify the start of the works.
Mrs Wina, who was clad in a white work-suit and safety helmet, drove for a short distance much to the delight of residents who had gathered to witness the event.
Speaking when she officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony here yesterday, Mrs Wina said the programme has been effected following a memorandum of understanding signed on October 9, 2015 between the Road Development Agency (RDA), National Roads Fund Agency (NRFA) and the Zambia National Service (ZNS).
Mrs Wina, who is republican Vice-President, said the works which will be carried out by ZNS will cover 9,430 kilometres over a period of four years.
She said the programme is part of the Patriotic Front (PF) government’s commitment to developing all corners of Zambia, as promised in 2011 when the party came to power.
Mrs Wina also said the roads will open up trade within rural and urban areas.
She said Government has no doubt that the three institutions that have been tasked to do the work on behalf of Zambians will deliver to expectations.
She said RDA is expected to give specifications of the identified roads while the NRFA will be responsible for the timely release of the money.
“For ZNS, we expect them to put the acquired earth-moving machines to good use and also make use of the local labour. As you know, Western Province has no industry,” she said.
Mrs Wina said the people of Litoya, in Nalolo district, should be proud to have the countrywide project launched in the area.
She cautioned the residents against tampering with construction materials when ZNS moves on site.
Minister of Works and Supply Yamfwa Mukanga said the ministry, through the RDA, has continued to deliver government programmes aimed at improving the state of infrastructure, particularly roads.
Mr Mukanga said the project will help improve infrastructure which has been in poor state due to inadequate funding.
Western Province Minister Poniso Njeulu said the people of the area are happy with the various development projects that the government has continued to do.
He, however, appealed to Government to tar a segment of the Mongu-Lusaka road near Kaoma.
“The people of Western Province are beginning to appreciate the works that this government has continued to bring to this province,” he said.
The event was attended by ZNS commandant Nathan Mulenga, Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Greyford Moonde, his Deputy Lawrence Evans, Deputy Minister of Defence Christopher Mulenga, Western Province permanent secretary Mwangala Liomba, district commissioners and PF provincial chairman Charles Mututwa, among others.
One week after austerity measures were announced by ECL, they continue with useless roads thru chinese loans.
My farm is 10 km from the main road and it used to take me an hr to reach the farm. When a feeder road was worked on it takes me minutes and l sometimes use my car to check on the pigs and chickens and collect veggies for the restaurant. Ebuyantanshi tufwaya ubu.
Yaba! Maloza here is either confessed or he’s seriously smoking something that’s actually making him confused. Who said these feeder roads are being worked on with money from China?
These funds are generated from within through toll fees and fuel level. You see when you objective is to denigrate everything opposition you sound maloza and you miss the point.
Be patriotic for a change. Be Zambian! Some of have not been in govt but we run Zambia vicariously no matter who is in power. How? We use fora like this to tell govt what to do and they do what we say.
Why? Because we are patriots! Through fora like this almost 18 years ago we suggested toll roads. Levy took it up, we suggested bonds, Sata brought the Eurobonds, the list is endless.
We run Zambia right here and we make…
Continued …
We run Zambia right here and we make the changes needed in govt right here just like Chikwanda will be history soon. That’s how we run our country and yet we seek no elected office.
Start running Zambia like some of us do, pay attention to the details. You don’t have to be at State House to run this country! You don’t have to be in parliament to run this country, you can run it right now and if your ideas are noble those in office will implement them on your behalf.
That’s how we run this country, got it? So start running your country and make a positive impact on it now. My UNIP lost power in govt almost 25 years ago but I have been running my country in other ways … I don’t have to be at State House, I will never be! But howbeit I still run my country.
@maloza according to the Lusaka times, this project is worth under $2 million. Surely this is a positive move as it’s also contracted to the ZNS and not some Chinese firm. These are feeder roads to rural areas that have no road access to get things such as your mobile hospitals there.
What I condemn is the $400 million loan acquired for the Copperbelt roads
Correction: it’s actually under 2 billion dollars
I THOUGHT THE PRESIDENT HAD SUSPENDED ALL NEW PROJECTS AND NEW DEBTS! WHAT AN INCONSISTENT GOVERNMENT!
BA NATIONAL SERVICE??? ANYWAY, LET’S WAIT AND SEE. WHAT IS NOT CLEAR IS WHETHER THE ROADS WILL BE TARRED OR JUST GRADED AS USUAL. CAN YOU NOT USE GENERALISED WORDS SUCH AS REHABILITATE? CAN YOU PLEASE, USE WORDS SUCH AS UPGRADE TO BITUMINOUS FROM GRAVEL. TO INFORM THE READERSHIP DOES NOT MEAN CONFUSING THEM OR LEAVING THEM WITH QUESTION MARKS.
Very strange. Were did the cash come from??
This was already sourced – where do you think the Eurobonds went? It is future projects for which funds are not yet allocated that are affected.
Whose idea is this to give white dust coats to officials…..the only problem I have with ZNS machinery is that it is Chinese and when it starts to breakdown the maintenance costs will be higher than the Japanese and European machinery with dealerships in the region.
GONOW (Tuesday, 09 April 2013 07:52 )
HIGER (May 7, 2011)
GONOW and HIGER HAVE BEEN REPORTED (see dates in brackets) AS HAVING BEEN EXPRESSING THEIR INTERESTS TO ESTABLISH ASSEMBLY PLANTS IN ZAMBIA. THESE AND OTHER CHINESE MACHINERY AND PLANT COMPANIES CAN ACT AS AGENTS FOR ORDERING TOOLS. AND I AM SURE ZAMBIA BY NOW LEARNED CONTRACT LESSON TO KNOW CONTRACTS SHOULD CLEARLY COVER MAINTENANCE AND REPLENISHMENT SENTENCES IN THE CONTRACTS. OR ELSE ZAMBIANS AUTHORITIES ARE STILL FUULISH.
We have this old lady bo Inonge as minister of National Planning to date she has never given us any speech or roadmap…we are merely paying her to sit there getting two salaries and smiling like a f***
Should have started in 2012 when there was still an MMD economy in place. A PF economy cannot afford this, despite its merits. Besides PF only has months left in office not four years. This is a campaign ploy.
Imagine doing feeder roads in the rainy season!!
She could have done us a favour by running over Yamfwa Mukanga so that we have one less Minister and save some money.