Friday, March 29, 2024

$250 million spent so far on the construction of KK International Airport-Chitotela

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Kenneth Kaunda International Airport
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport

Minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development Ronald Chitotela has revealed that the construction of the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) is progressing well.

Mr. Chitotela said the design and construction of KKIA is at a total contract sum of 360 million United States Dollars provided by the Exim Bank of China.

He stated that out of the $360 million over $250 million has so far been spent on various project items.

The Minister said this when he presented a ministerial statement in Parliament today.

ZANIS reports that Mr. Chitotela said with regard to the terms of the loan, the maturity period of the loan facility is 240 months or 20 years with a grace period of 84 months or 7 years while the loan is expected to be repaid within a period of 13 years.

He further stated that the applicable interest rate on the loan is 2 percent per annum while the rate applicable for the management fee is 0.25 percent while the rate for the commitment fee is also 0.25 percent per annum.

Mr. Chitotela explained that the project will continue to contribute to employment creation.

He disclosed that as of end of January 2018, the total number of Zambian employees on the project was 1185.

Mr. Chitotela noted that the project is poised to provide impetus towards industrialisation and transformation of Zambia into a transport hub in the region and beyond.

33 COMMENTS

  1. Heathrow airport; the world’s busiest airport expansion programme only cost $20m to expand. Just what’s going on in this country mwebantu please?

    • Can’t our journalists be serious?
      KKIA is at a total contract sum of 360 million United States Dollars provided by the Exim Bank of China.
      What does that sentence mean?

    • Sounds like a bag cement cost $2000 each. 1000 bags of cement is just $2 million if PF buying at $2000 per bag.
      1000 bags is alot, we used that to build a hospital.
      Bishop Mambo didn’t even about this scandals.

    • @Nkope fimo fimo … you guys are a mess. I was there in London when Heathrow Terminal 2 also known as “The Queen’s Terminal” was re-opened in 2014 to replace the original terminal which was built in 1955.

      Terminal 2 total cost was £2.3Billion not $20Million. Kanshi imwe guys ubufi ninshi kanshi???!!! That amount included Phase II which opens in 2020.

      You think by just pulling numbers out of nothing you are going to discredit GRZ? Look, I am not a fun of corruption either but lying about facts and doctoring documents isn’t the way to fight this scoge.

      Be honest otherwise your message becomes useless. Just google “total expenses for London Heathrow Terminal 2” and you will see empirical data.

      Heaven help us all …

    • And by the way, Atlanta Hartfield International Airport has been the world’s busiest airport since 2000. Another of your erroneous facts … the truth is easy.

      Not London Heathrow, now the city of London with a combination of 4 city airport, that includes Heathrow, London City, Gatwick,etc has the world’s largest combined traffic but not one of these airports stand alone beats ATL.

      Heaven help us all …

    • @B R Mumba, Sr; I was wondering the same thing. I really don’t know where these guys get their figures from. Like you have said, this kind of INTELLECTUAL LAZINESS has, unfortunately, not spared our Zambian Media outlets either. A Country where rumor passes for facts, and simple verification of facts is considered a waste of time and unimportant…..now you know we are f*#ked as a Country!

    • Abena Yambayamba … you’re exactly right!!! Sometimes I think, they think we are stup1t and we don’t know anything at all or we have no way of verifying facts.

      That alone irks me because by throwing out false figures, their real intent is to deceive the masses; get them irritated so they can get to State House by false pretense.

      In my profession if you are caught misquoting even the minute of details, you lose credibility and your business but these guys think they can consistently insult our intelligence and simply get away with it.

      Heaven help us all …

  2. “Mr. Chitotela noted that the project is poised to provide impetus towards industrialisation and transformation of Zambia into a transport hub in the region and beyond.” How? You need an integrated strategy around transport, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture tourism and finance…especially fiscal policy, for such a project to bear fruit. Transport hubs thrive not only from passengers but from freight. Are we building an integrated industrial zone that will be able to exploit an export hub in form of the airport? Zambia is one of the most expensive countries to do business in when one considers the cost of inputs of production (fuel/electricity, taxes, labour). How are we addressing these to not only to ensure that Zambia is a preferable base of production but also that the…

    • True……zambia is too expensive , that is why airlines like BA , KLA cargo pulled out of Zambia because of the ripoff prices.

    • Zambia is too expensive for business….TRUE! But how do you bring down the cost of doing business if you don’t build infrastructure and make some reforms?

      Today we build a world class Airport, tomorrow a robust farming community coupled with a vibrant tourism sector, extra, and then match on from there. That’s how other Countries have done it. It is NOT in one big scoop and everything is done. It takes decades, even centuries. Lest you the same people start accusing Govt of borrowing too much. But you always got to start somewhere….FOR ROME WAS NEVER BUILT IN A DAY….as the saying goes.

      By the way, industrial zones are being setup in Lusaka and beyond as speak. If you are unaware of this, try to find out. Go setup a bank in one of these zones and reap the benefits. Don’t…

    • Continue…

      wait for the Chanise to come and do it for you and then complain about it later….grab the opportunity now, it is your Country!

  3. This is not how you report construction works Mr Dull Corrupt Minister ..everyone knows the Project cost is $360m..how can you state that this much has been spent as if the money is just sitting in an account like bags of cement.

    • Abena Bongo … some of no longer respond to ditwits, every time they post something all you see in it is nothing but the highest level of ignorance but wanting to sound intellectual.

      These maggots ain’t got no clue but want to be masters of everything. For instance, when the Minister gave a progress report based on construction draw schedules as a measure of work in progress, they smacked him.

      They don’t know that total costs in construction go with progress schedules but hey, they are smarter than the Minister!!!

      Pathetic nincompoops, they are …

  4. Can the minister explain the interest amount of 2% per annum, is that on the balance or 2% per annum of the borrowed amount. At 2% per annum equates to 94.6million in interest. That plus the borrowed amount equates to 454.6 million to be repaid within 13 years. So there is about $35 million per year in repayments starting 2023, right when our bonds mature. Who pays. Kkia must generate profit of over $35 million per year to cover loan repayments alone

    • Iwe, where have thrown you senses kanshi imwe ba “some of us”? First of all, which balance are you talking about? APR is always base on the total amount of the loan. In this case, the two percent kicks in after the seven-year grace period. I am assuming this is after the entire project is done and handed over to Govt.

  5. How can you spend that much in zambia? Labor is cheap. You thieves. There is a lot of stealing don’t shield bakoswe

  6. Yambayamba, some loans the 2% is based on the amount owing after yearly payments, thats what i meant by balance, as the principle reduces.either way its a hell of a lot of money.
    Sri lanka built international aorport with china loan, when pipo didnt flock to the country and they cohldnt repay loan china now has an airport, sri lanka the did the same withthe major sea port. Just some background

    mba

  7. Yambayamba, there is a grace period on repayments but it doesnt say there is a grace period on the interest.
    Many commercial loans here have a non repayment period but the interest is calculated from the time the loan is taken out. The minister has not explained the full terms,

  8. @B R Mumba, Sr
    I like your objectivity and wished your were part of the PF media team. These crooks in UPND are a mess and liars because all major airports construction in UK, US, Europe and indeed Africa cost in the range of Billions of Dollars and NOT Millions. Who are they trying to cheat?
    Let them concentrate on finding out how their small god called hh and gbm ammassed their wealth from the stealing from State assets. hh has never answered where he got his wealth and but we the Kopala residents know the story very well and he will not get any votes from us, generation after generation.

  9. Seems like Nostradamus is operating on borrowed info from fellow vuvuzelaz. Please use the language you know better. You probably don’t even know the exchange rate for a dollar. Dreaming figures only expose your folly. Please liase with some QS, and get ideas or thumbsuck figure of how much a project like that would cost. Otherwise you will be deemed dull sir! Infact it’s wise to be quiet especially on technical issues that are beyond your gray.

  10. Our country is in a mess with all this educated guys like Nkope fimo fimo cooking up lies of the figures… I was surprised to discover that the customized fir engines alomost the same size we bought cost about $1.8m. I think the govt never cheated on the fire enginees

  11. B R Mumba, please continue advising these UPND Cadres who can even oppose the medical bill. I even remember those years with you at Chamboli Secondary.

  12. Baseless comparisons! look at the BOQs and installation aspects of constructions should you wish to compare between the KKIA and Heathrow airport expansion. There could be a huge variation in cost depending on the source of materials and expertise/ labor: Chinese vs European. of course anything to do with present Zambia involves corruption. Nevertheless, tribalism is worse than corruption. If Edgar Lungu is all there is, he should WIN the next general election.

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