Chief Lumpuma of Lufwanyama district has called on the Copperbelt Provincial Administration to terminate the contract for the local contractor, ‘PLC’ awarded to work on Lumpuma-Mukutuma road.
The traditional leader said the contract should be terminated because of delays in the completion of the project.
Chief Mukutuma who spoke through one of his Headmen, Michael Nyambe, told Copperbelt Province Minister, Elisha Matambo who was in district, to witness the distribution of empowerment funds to cooperatives that the contractor is not serious and the contract be terminated.
He said no significant progress has been made on the road apart from the soils heaped on different stretches of the road since 2020 when the contract was awarded.
Meanwhile, the traditional leader has praised President Hakainde Hichilema and his administration for bringing development in the various economic sectors in their first year in office.
And Mr. Matambo has assured the traditional leader that he will summon the contractor to his office and understand why he has delayed to complete the works on the road.
He said the delay in the completion of the road project has not just affected the movement of agriculture produce but people in the chiefdom as well.
After inspecting the site, the minister said he is not impressed with workmanship exhibited by the contractor and government will be left with no choice but terminate the contract and give it to someone who will diligently do the works.
Since when do chiefs have a say in national matters?
The road in question is in his chiefdom… why should he keep silent when things are NOT ok??
PF BOTCHED JOB AGAIN
On such contracts it’s usually the Government that’s at fault due to defaults. These contracts are usually executed with funds from the contract owner. There’s no contractor or financial institutions that can put money in a road project in Zambia. I understand the Chief’s frustrations that have caused him to call for the cancelation of the contract but that isn’t the solution. So Matmbo is right to say he’ll engage the contractor to understand his challenges. If it’s GRZ at fault it’ll be costly to cancel the contract. The best is to find the way forward and enable the contractor to complete the job.