Friday, March 29, 2024

President Lungu disappointed with engineers who worked on the Iolanda Water Facility

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President Edgar Lungu is disappointed with engineers who planned for the construction of the Iolanda Water Facility in Kafue under the Bulk water supply project for not including the component of electricity in the contract.

President Lungu says the project to expand the water treatment plant for Lusaka is completed but cannot start operating because the power component was omitted in the contract.

He says he has previously complained to the Engineering institute of Zambia about the unprofessional conduct by some engineers in Zambia.

President Lungu said it is such conduct that has made government to be redoing a number of works on various projects at a great cost across the country.

The Kafue water project is expected to expand the water supply in Lusaka.

And Minister of water sanitation and environmental protection Dennis Wanchinga said the project is complete and will start operating as soon as the power component is worked on.

Dr Wanchinga said a new contract that is meant to deal with the power component has been worked on.

And Lusaka water and sanitation company managing director Jonathan Kampata said once complete the project will reduce the water shortage problems in Lusaka.

President Lungu Visiting the the Iolanda Water Facility in Kafue
The Iolanda Water Facility in Kafue
The Iolanda Water Facility in Kafue

39 COMMENTS

  1. Edgar Lungu don’t just blame the engineers and who approved the project designs to ahead?

    That’s the problem of concentrating on kickbacks over the out come of the whole project.

    This man has failed.

    PF must go!

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  2. PF 100%

    Fiduswa Fiduswa!
    Whoa! Lusaka will have water 24/7.
    One wonders why we go china. But such shortcomings comes from individual Engineers.

    I am forced to reckon that every Engineer graduates having done a ka final project.

    Hey y’all Niggaz EIZ, kindly organize Project Refresher Courses for your membership. It is imperative.

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  3. Engineers in our country leave alot to be desired. This is why I laugh when evil diasporans and opposition supporters look down on those in government with modest educational qualifications. Having degrees does not make you wise. Some have even laughed at my qualifications and yet it is clear to see that in most cases those with high qualifications tend to be useless. Infact I just fired a junior officer who had masters degree. He was very useless.

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  4. Truly speaking zambian engineers are half backed.they are just good at yapping.the zambian born diaspora engineers are well oriented to project ethics.plz engage us ba pf in some project.

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  5. Please leave Zambian engineers alone, they have always been there serving their country, how can ALL things go horribly wrong with everything destroyed or upside down within the short time frame that PF has been in office 2011 – 2020?? Expect more blame games in the run up to 2021.

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  6. It’s entirely your fault Your Excellency Edgar Chagwa Lungu LLB, President of the Republic of Zambia, Chairman of the SADC Defence and Security Committee, In-coming Chairman of the AU and currently building a new international conference centre despite existence of suitable facilities on the same plot of land which hv hosted a similar meeting under late Chiluba.

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  7. Mr President, I would like to know if you have ever taken responsibility for any of your or ministers actions? You always find someone to blame!

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  8. Look at him, just complaining to look like he is working….

    In lungus GRZ , no one is accountable not anything.

    Even after gassing our people leading to mass murder , no one is held accountable…..

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  9. So where were you, your Minister, your PS, and the technocrats when that contract was being considered? Don’t you think heads should roll bwana? Awe mwe. I am increasingly believing some guy who said there will be confusion mwe. It is astounding what is going on. It is as if God has begun to confuse those he wants to let off.

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  10. Come on people, do we really have to have everything inspected and approved by the State House/President for projects to be done correctly and professionally in Zambia now? I mean, what sort of engineers do we have in Zambia nowadays? Engineers who can’t even spot or recognize such obvious and glaring omissions in the design plans. I mean, it is like designing a beautiful car and forgetting to include a fuel tank or electric motors (in case of electric cars) in the design plan. Yes, you will end up with a beautiful car, alright! But what good is a beautiful car without a fuel tank/power?

    And surely COMPETENT design engineers would catch such silly design flaws/omissions right away and start asking questions. Questions whether the omissions are by design or simply an oversight…

  11. Continue…

    f@#kup. This is BASIC STUFF in Engineering. And at this stage in the development of the craft ( engineering), this should come as second nature to any Engineer worth their salt. So how did these engineers figure water pumps gonna be run without providing/including the necessary designs for electrical connectivity to the system? Did they think the system will operate like the ancient Egyptian SHADUFF (sp)? This kind of incompetence is really embarrassing!

  12. @diasporans don’t get too excited by alleging that you have better zambian engineers there. From a study carried out last year it was found that 90 percent of zambian in diaspora are doing menial jobs like cleaning toilets and old people. I don’t mean to demean anyone. I am just stating facts

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  13. If Lingu is a true lawyer then he knows that formal contracts are formed when all parties understand their obligations. Does it mean GRZ didn’t understand the contract terms when they gave a go ahead to the project? The law of contract is clear in order for a contract to be binding both parties must understand each other and agree to the terms. If the project is complete but something is missing who is to blame? GRZ is a law maker and failed or it is another strategy to steal more money in the name of releasing funds for the missing part.

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  14. You can’t blame an engineer who gave U the budget for the project and all the requirements when U are the one who failed to provide enough funds for everything.

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  15. Just say you want us to think zambian engineers failed so you are bringing in Chinese engineers for the missing part at a cost of $5 Million.

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  16. Either he is drunk again or just stupid. He knows very well that the transmission line and substation connecting the new plant to the grid was the counterpart contribution of your failed, incompetent and corrupt government. Not the engineers messed up but you and your savages running our country.

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  17. @Kaizar Zulu,. F U CK OFF you are among the most UNPATRIOTIC civil servants SELLING the country. I wonder how you ended up advising the President?
    You give contracts to build an airport to musicians, are you normal. Who do you expect to develop and expose the youth as well as your children to the need skills.

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  18. Mukwasu I ended up in the position due to my hard work and patriotism unlike you diasporans who would rather wipe people’s backsides than hustle in your own country. I am now a director within office of president and I am also working in private sector. Contact me and let us work together rather than against each other. This is the weakness of black people. Too much self hate and jealousy.

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  19. Lungu is just politicking as it is fact that he’d been on the go “inspecting projects” before the Corona pandemic put a temporary stop to his crisscrossing the country on “inspections” agenda. They had forgotten to include additional funds for the electricity component just to still have an open window for more kickbacks!

  20. So you blame the builders for construction of your house when you have not surveyed the plot for water or services availability in the area….enough is enough indeed with this incompetent leadership of Lazy Lungu!!

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  21. @KZ, dude your obsession with with so called diasporans will cause you a heart attack one day. Yes, Zambians in the diaspora do all sorts of jobs. Jobs from cleaners, board licensed nurses, teachers (high school to college professors,) taxi/truck drivers, elderly care professionals, engineers, doctors, you name it. And just like in Zambia, not everybody can be an engineer, doctor, and the like. Nor are these professions a prerequisite for a happy and fulfilled life. Someone can afford a fulfilling and honest living by being a cleaner and taking care of the elderly. You talk like most Zambian families don’t already provide such services to their elderly parents/relatives anyway. The only difference is that in Zambia people don’t get paid for it. Sometimes I wonder if you ever had to…

  22. Continue…. @KZ

    takecare of your elderly or sick parents/relatives in your life. Because you seem to have such disdain for the elderly.

    By the way, professionalism (doesn’t matter what field) should count for something. But in Zambia a half-baked-school-dropout-dimwit can make it simply by being a “professional bootlicker” and cozying up to politicians for favours. Here even politics is a profession with very highly educated individuals. Not leeches. And one question you should ask yourself is; why have all these people left Zambia, if Zambia was a land of milk and honey, to go abroad and clean toilets as you like to insult? Well, the answer is simple; CHARLATANS like yourself have screwed everything up for majority Zambians.

    And for your info, yes, those Zambians working…

  23. Continue…. @KZ

    as engineers abroad are light years ahead of their counterparts in Zambia. This is a fact no amount of singing “dununa reverse” can obscure. So lay off your ignorance for once!

  24. @ yamba , you guys there are so light years ahead of us here in Zambia such that your necks are kneeled on, you are stop searched without reasons and shot at by police. Oh if that is what you call being light years ahead, then I would rather remain behind here in my own country where I am treated like a human. Congrats you have achieved the highest form of ignorance in modern history. Bunch of kunta kintes

  25. Yambayamba – The only problem here is you are responding to a bored UK based impostor who imagines to be someone else …he has no principles of his own and there is no reference of location in his posts as it will give him away like when he initially started with the Kz tag so he has nothing to post but make references about the diaspora where he is based….its a tired joke but he still carries on.

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  26. Why blame the engineers in general including the EIZ? Where were the government inspectors who ensure that the project is built to specifications and to the designed. This suggests that the project hasn’t even gone through pre-commissioning stage. Why would someone invite the president to unfinished project to be celebrated and ceremonial commission by the president. This has nothing to do with engineers, but the owner of the project, designer, contractor and government inspectors. In this group, the deficiency can be traced where it came from. Do not blame engineers, find out where the problem lies before condemning the person responsible for omission.

  27. ba Mwine Mushi, an engineer cannot design something without getting specifications from owners of the project. Further the engineer will not proceed to construct without the go ahead after the designs have been reviewed and approved as meeting the required specifications. Who owns the lolanda water works? That’s were you should start from. They are the ones who contracted the engineer and they are the ones who approved the designs and they are the ones who gave the go ahead for the works to commence. Am sure there are even terms and conditions attached to the works which means payments cannot be made if their requirements as approved were not met! What about performance guarantees that go with such projects, why have they not claimed? hallo!!!!!!!

  28. See – This is an utterly incompetent inept man who will also blame covid-19 for the recklessly borrowed 12 billion dollars

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  29. These are the engineers you produce when you write exams online. Other people write for you and then you are given jobs based on those degrees. Don’t hire any 2020 graduates who have written exams online.

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  30. Disappointing as always. You read people saying give Zambians opportunity rather than the Chinese….look the result!

    You can see from the structure that it is too fragile to service Lusaka. There is no patriotism or pride in their work, only ‘give us money!’

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  31. Don’t blame the engineers. Blame the specific people whose signatures are on the contract. EIZ does not sign contracts. Get to the specific signatories for answers. Let them write a letter as to why the power contract was not included. You have the almighty power to do that right now. And the country will support you.

  32. As far as i know , No credible Zambian engineer has contracted works with the PF, other than the Chinese & Cadres. So, am 100% certain that that mediocre piece of work was done by either, a China man, or a PF cadre.

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  33. @KZ, and foreigners are calling your behinds FOREIGNERS in your own country. Soon they will be asking you to get your groceries through pigeon holes since you can’t go through the door already. So you have to wonder which one is worse!

    And as usual, you fail to understand and differentiate between professional development and social ills of any nation. Racial ignorance which may lead to events we are witnessing here in the U.S. currently can happen anywhere. If not Racial Ignorance, it is something else. Didn’t black people butcher each other in Rwanda not too long ago? How about the xenophobic attacks we have witnessed in South Africa recently? Also the TRIBAL NONSENSE that has led to some deaths in Zambia itself? Especially during elections. So the cr@p you are bring up can happen…

  34. Continue….@KZ

    anywhere and to anybody and has nothing to do with CARREER or PROFESSIONAL development or satisfaction.

    By the way, Goerge Flyod was NOT an immigrant or foreigner in the U.S. He was a full American (generations deep), born and bred in America. Like most other blacks who have been killed by the Police in the U.S are all Americans, his only crime was being black…..and there is very little anyone can do about such Ignorance no matter where you are.

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