Government is concerned with deliberate efforts by some people aimed at misleading and mis-informing the public on its agenda to transform the country through infrastructure development.
Minister of Housing and Infrastructure development Ronald Chitotela says there has been a lot of misinformation about the price of constructing Michael Chilufya Sata Toll plaza, the integrated tolling system and the House of the Fourth Republican president.
Delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament today, Mr Chitotela said contrary to assertions that the toll plaza cost 52 million Kwacha, the true cost of the toll plaza is about 38.2 million Kwacha.
Mr Chitotela said claims that other countries in the region have built infrastructure similar in size and quality at just 500,000 US Dollars are not only untrue but intended to mislead the people of Zambia.
He said so far six point seven million Kwacha has been collected from the toll plaza which is the largest in the country from the date it was commissioned by President Edgar Lungu, this year.
And Mr Chitotela says it is not true that government single sourced for a firm to implement the integrated road traffic management and tolling system.
He said Lamise Trading limited in association with Kapsch Trafficcom, incorporated in Zambia as Intelligent Mobility Solutions, were picked to operate the integrated road traffic management from four competing proposals.
The companies that competed inclued MTM/ KZM traffix of South Africa, Grandview International of Zambia and Romania, Fischer Consulting of South Africa, and Rashmitha Information Systems from India.
He said Lamise Trading limited with Kapsch Trafficcom also submitted an unsolicited proposal to the Road Development Agency-RDA- for a separate tolling solution.
The solution was to be integrated with the Road Transport and Safety Agency-RTSA- system but negotiations were terminated by the Public Private Partnerships council because it was not in the best interest of Zambians.
Mr Chitotela said the wrong impression and deliberate mis-information that RTSA has already signed the concession agreement with Intelligent Mobility Solutions are incorrect, dishonest and unfounded.
He told the House that the issue of comparing the cost of the house of the fourth republican president to the Michael Chilufya Sata Toll Plaza, is irrational.
Mr Chitotela said the two facilities have completely different facilities and have no basis of comparing their costs due to the differences in design, scope and requirements.
No you are getting the wrong end of the stick. We know there is development
It is the thieving whilst development is going on… you may be stup1d but we are not
In addition to misplaced priorities while neglecting the poor. How can you buy Marauder Riot Trucks when people are surviving on Mangoes?
Spending more time planning for riots eg buying Marauder Riot truck rather than creating jobs and empowerment programs which are the cause. By the way how much is each Marauder Riot truck?
I personally don’t think mis-informatio is the issue. I believe it’s the issue of TRUST. The people do not Trust the Government and it’s agencies. So much corruption activity has been reported therefore the citizenry are sensitive in that way. Until the government is seen as fighting corruption, the people will always have mistrust.
This is a reflection of failure by Hon chitolela to communicate effectively. He should have been more proactive in the dissemination of the right and correct information rather than wait for people to speculate and then blame them for mis information.
Being proactive will mean he has to lie to us, it’s a catch-22 situation. Information he has will stun many Zambia’s about how much is stolen, who is involved and generally how contracts are managed to the disadvantage of locals.
wasn’t it ECL who announced the cost of the tall plaza when he commissioned it,who then is misinforming the nation?I don’t understand why things are so disorganized in our country at the moment.
Also i don’t know why i always have a bad feeling when i see Chitotela’s face or hear his name.I don’t like this man.He is so corrupt and very stupid illiterate
When a toll gate costs 4.8million dollars then it’s the public who should be concerned not government.
IS IT WEALTHY IT, BECAUSE HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO RECOVER THE 4.8M DOLLARS FOR THE TALL GATE?
Well so the cost has changed today, these thieving morons think Zambians are stup!d, you can not trust a govt full of thieving morons because people can see what they are doing with out hiding it at all, doesn`t matter what lie you tell today, we just don`t trust any one in cabinet any more all we know is that everyone has long fingers that are dipping into treasure