VICE President George Kunda has directed the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU) and the ministry of works and supply to repair three bridges that have been washed away along the Bottom road in Sinazongwe district.
The Vice president who inspected the damaged bridges along the Bottom road yesterday said the situation must be handled as an emergency because some areas have been cut off from the rest of the country.
Mr. Kunda issued the directive when he addressed a mammoth rally at Maamba mine stadium in Sinazongwe yesterday.
The Vice President was on arrival accorded a ceremonial welcome by the valley Tonga Budima traditional dancers.
Vice President Kunda said during his tour of road infrastructure in the district, he had seen for himself the massive damage to bridges caused by floods in the valley district.
He said it is for this reason that DMMU under his office, together with the ministry of works and supply, should quickly repair damaged bridges and easy the suffering of the people.
Vice President Kunda assured thousands of Sinazongwe residents who attended the rally that government remains committed to the reconstruction of the Bottom road which he said was so dear to the
people of the three valley districts of Sinazongwe, Gwembe, and Siavonga.
He also assured the residents that government through the ministry of tourism and natural resources will look into the problem of the swelled population of crocodiles on Lake Kariba which have become a big threat to human life.
Vice President Kunda said during his meeting with Chief Sinazongwe, the traditional ruler had raised concern about the increasing number of people killed by rampaging reptiles on the lake.
And the Vice President has said government through ZESCO will electrify the shores of the entire stretch of Lake Kariba to attract more tourists and tourism enterprises.
He said government has good plans to develop the valley districts and called upon the people to support the programmes aimed at boosting economic development.
The Vice president is on a tour of five districts of southern province inspecting development programmes.
He is today expected in Kalomo where he is expected to inspect various developmental projects before addressing a public rally in the afternoon.
He is accompanied by livestock and fisheries deputy minister Albert Mulonga and community development deputy minister Adonis Mufalali.
[ ZANIS ]
I wonder if every effort aimed at repairing damage caused by floods should be done when the Veep gives a directive. There must be something wrong with the quality of work done on some of the bridges in the valley. Every rain season the bruidges are washed away by floods. How? Shoddy works due to correption and we are standing at akimbo thinking some one will come from heaven to develop zed. Nikisi. The cost of being passive on community related issues. We are doomed coz we treat our political leaders as though they are our masters yet they ve offerred themselves to serve us to satisifaction. Ba George was expecting the damage caused by floods did he travel by air or road to see real damage? He used air transport and only inspected isolated places. This is Zambia turned upside down.watchout
This is the area which has been neglected for so long despite that the electricity comes from this area after people were displaced due to the construction of the Kariba dam. No compensation for the Gwembe valley Tonga who wallow in poverty year in and year out.
This govt only gives promises when its almost elections’ time..the people GK went to see don’t have electricity and yet the power plant is in their hood..won’t that cause some problem like BRE at some time in future..watch the space..
That’s what you get with luck of serious planning. This should not have happened in the first place if you had a right thinking persons in government.
We need to start talking about long-term solutions while Copper prices are high, so we should be talking about all-weather bridges. Other Countries with more difficult terrain have managed. Look at Countries in S. America and Asia. As some people already know, a typical design in difficult terrain like this is a Suspension Bridge. There are many variation we can come up with, from a simple pedestrian type so that people are not completely cut off at any time, to single-lane bridges that can take a Truck at a time. We can do this if we put our minds to it. Each one should say to themselves ‘If it is to be, it is up to me’.