Minister Chalikosa commends National Dev. Planning for renovating 56-year-old offices

Minister of Works and Supply Hon. Sylvia Bambala Chalikosa on Thursday toured the newly renovated 56-year-old office blocks housing the Ministry of National Development Planning, an initiative aimed at saving government funds and maintaining old infrastructure.

In a joint statement released to the media by Mr. Chibaula D. Silwamba, Spokesperson for Ministry of National Development Planning and Mr. Ndubi Mvula, for the Ministry of Works and supply, Hon. Chalikosa said infrastructure maintenance is integral to development.

“We are happy about this project at the Ministry of National Development Planning as it is a clear demonstration on how maintenance and rehabilitation of infrastructure can give anew leaf of life to a property. Congratulations Honourable Minister, permanent secretaries and your Staff for this achievement,” Hon. Chalikosa said. “However this should not be the end of it, we need to maintain this achievement by having a clear maintenance plan for the institution where you indicate the different types of maintenance which should be undertaken, among which are routine, periodic and merger maintenance.”
She said maintenance ensures that the infrastructure remains in good condition and conducive to the users thereby maintaining good service delivery.

Hon. Chalikosa said a delay in maintenance and repair of infrastructure increases the maintenance costs and shortens service life.”

The minister noted that Zambia inheriting infrastructure built by the colonial regime and has also over decades massively invested in construction of infrastructure, but there had been insignificant maintenance.

“The inadequate, untimely, and uncoordinated maintenance of buildings, roads, rail, aviation and maritime infrastructure among has resulted in such infrastructure not fully functional nor productive leading to disruption of provision of service,” the Minister said.

Hon. Chalikosa explained that between 2014 and 2018, the Government spent in excess of K 9 billion on construction and only K319 million was spent on maintenance, which accounts for 3.1 per cent of total expenditure.

Hon. Chalikosa said: “Under the leadership of His Excellency the President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, we have made strides to correct this situation. In this regard among the strides being made are: (i) Development of an Asset Management Policy which includes maintenance. This policy is expected to be tabled soon before Cabinet. This will provide a framework on how public infrastructure or assets will be managed and maintained; (ii) Development of conceptual framework on the establishment of a maintenance fund; (iii) Development of a fixed asset register. This will inform us on all the government assets. The assets will be subsequently valued for us to appreciate the net value of our country. This will also provide a platform for us to leverage this value in international engagements.”

Hon. Chalikosa said the Ministry of National Development Planning has a role to play in overall development of the country, including the appreciation and development of maintenance infrastructure.

The renovated office blocks were built during the pre-independence era in April 1964. The building used to house the Central Statistical Office (CSO – now Zambia Statistics Agency) before it was handover to the Ministry of National Development Planning in November 2017, and underwent renovation from 2018 through 2019.

Ministry of National Development Planning Permanent Secretary in charge of Development Planning and Administration Mr. Chola Chabala said the renovation had greatly enhance staff morale due to the improved work environment.

“Upon taking occupancy of the renovated buildings, we now have minimal challenges with office accommodation,” said Chabala, who was franked by his co-permanent secretary in charge of Development Cooperation, Monitoring and Evaluation Mr. Danies Chisenda, as well as Ministry of Works and Supply Permanent Secretary Ms. Agnes Musunga.