Office of the Vice President has deployed a team of engineers from the Zambia Army to Western province to urgently repair the washed away Senanga-Shang’ombo road, which has been cut off in three segments after heavy rains.
This has caused Shang’ombo and Senanga districts to be completely cut off from the rest of the Western province after heavy rains, which also washed away 60 houses in Shang’ombo district.
The team, which has been deployed through the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU), is expected to put up mobile bridges and back-fill them on the three stretches that have been completely cut off.
Zambia Army Commanding Officer and Chief Engineer from the Army Engineering Unit in Mufurila, Lieutenant Colonel Benson Musonda, said his officers are expected to complete works on the washed away bridges next week.
Colonel Musonda, who led a delegation of Army personnel, said the Zambia Army Engineering Unit was currently mobilizing the equipment, adding that his officers will work tirelessly to finish works as scheduled.
“All the areas that we have inspected are affected and the Senanga-Shang’ombo road has been cut off in three segments ranging from 45 to 50 metres respectively,” Colonel Musonda said.
He said his officers were geared to finish the works next week because the Senanga-Shang’ombo road was very important to the movement of people between the two districts and beyond.
He further said the two districts have been cut off from the provincial centre forcing people not to go in or come out of the two districts.
He said the situation was also posing a danger to the surrounding communities which could not buy food from other districts.
Colonel Musonda, who could however not disclose how many households have been affected by the floods, said the extent of damage on the Senanga-Shang’ombo road required an immediate intervention from the (DMMU), the Road Development Agency (RDA) and the Zambia Army.
“Floods are still rising and therefore we need both temporary and long-term measures to rectify the situation. Some people from Shang’ombo and Senanga districts have been left homeless or without food and the problem needs an urgent attention,” he said.
He further called on the people living in the flood prone areas to move to the upper land in order to avoid further trouble and possible loss of life.
He said many other alternative routes leading to and from the two districts have also been flooded.
Colonel Musonda added that his team will carry out a thorough inspection on roads in the area to ensure that all the roads that might be washed away received urgent attention.
Colonel Musonda has since appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance in form of tents, blankets and medical supplies from relevant organization in order to ease the suffering of people and save their lives.
He feared that if the problem was not attended to urgently, there might be an outbreak of water borne diseases.
ZANIS/TK/KSH/ENDS
Good! hope they will do a good job!
Of course they will dear!
They are qualified engineers!
yes they will. I believe these are supposed to be first men leading in the battle field., paving the way, building roads and bridges for the army to pass.
Infact, the words written at the gate to their camp are: ” The first regiment to step on the battle field and last to leave”.
brilliant idea! Let them do some work for once
It is good to see the Army working together with the government to redress calamities in the country. In other countries not so far from us (Madagascar), the gov’t and the Army are currently not on good terms.
We have a professional Army which respects the choice of the people and is prepared to defend that choice from trouble makers who think they should have won. Those who are usually called “Kano nga ebo”
We require long term solutions to these annual problems.Today its Shangombo,Tomorrow will be Luangwa,Maamba etc.
There is too much rhetoric from the govt. and agencies like RDA.
Act now before more lives are lost.
Come election time,there will be promises like’ The Govt. has set aside Blah Blah .Million to rehabilitate and fix feeder roads….’
very gud idea indeed.Hope they do put up gud work so that enuff trust in them can see them getting all the repair work.
These are the guys who did a goo job on the Nkalamabwe bridge in chongwe a few years back and so they could be trusted. Ba KA’DOYO what do you mean let them do some work for once? There is a lot that these people are doing that you dont know about. Are you aware for example that they are involved in the distridution of relief food?
Ala aba ni no nonsense. They will deliver !
what can they do. this problem has been there all this years and the army has been there at kalongola camp and has tried all they could. that place is in flait land and is difficult to maintain. we need speaciallied people like chinise to make up something tangaeble.. the type of soil in that place is difirent from the rest of the world. the government should just take a pantoon which is realiable and also good bridges along sitoti and sioma there. amutuse malozi please
the danish filled the same road. niyo vuta