Chingola and Chililabombwe Municipal Councils have established a dry port where trucks will be parked to ease congestion on the Chingola-Kasumbalesa road.
Chingola Mayor, Johnson Kang’ombe says the local authority has decided to turn the 2.8 hectares of former Chingola motor cross rally into a short-term remedy to address the congestion on the road.
Mr. Kang’ombe said council officers are on the site putting everything in place to ensure the port is in use before the end of this week.
He further said the port will accommodate between 800 to 1,000 trucks, which will reduce the long queues of trucks on the road.
“We sympathize with our truck drivers on the current state of affairs on the Chingola-Kasumbalesa road where the queue of trucks is almost reaching Kitwe,” he said.
And Chililabombwe Mayor, Lucky Sichone said the two local authorities have also agreed to enhance the supply of water to the truck drivers.
Mr. Sichone said the situation will completely be dealt with once construction of the road whose works also include putting up parking lots is done.
He stated that the municipalities have also agreed to use part of the five percent for Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) under the Constituency Development Fund to provide mobile toilets.
Mr. Sichone said the move is meant to ensure issues of water and sanitation are not compromised to avoid possible outbreak of diseases.
Meanwhile, one of the truck drivers, Geoffrey Sichone said they are tired of the situation, which they described as inhumane.
That’s been a long delayed project given the incessant trade between Katanga and the copperbelt. Next should be Kairi Mposhi then Chipata and somewhere in Luapula
You need proper relevant infra structure there. Otherwise the place will just become a dusty garbage dump. Have you macadamised the space? Do you have ablution blocks or restrooms. Do you have the chemicals for hygiene? Do you have information boards? Etc. The fact that we are in Africa doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider such provisions before we set up something as important as a dry port.
Journalists it’s your duty to physically monitor developments here and not just await press releases
I can only foresee a garbage dump here .A collection spot for COVID-19 and monkey pox. When did government setup anything that works or is sustain able? Perhaps a private company could run it but not one owned by a cabinet minister or party cadre