Road project not abandoned – Chongwe MP

JOHN KOMBE writes @SunZambian Government has not abandoned the 48.5 kms Chongwe hospital/ Katoba road project which was started in 2014, says Chongwe Member of Parliament Japhen Mwakalombe.  Mr. Mwakalombe   was responding to some residents over the delayed implementation of the project which they described as abandoned. He said that the upgrading to bituminous standard of RD 149 and D151 from Great East Road at Chongwe district hospital to Katoba primary school in Katoba ward was still on government’s agenda. He said that nothing had changed and as such the government was doing everything possible to ensure that the project is completed. He disclosed that the government had to terminate the contract which was originally awarded to Zhogmei Engineering Group on April 5, 2013  for technical reasons which he did not disclose.  Mr. Mwakalombe who is also Copperbelt province minister stressed that the government was aware of the poor state of the road which leads to the main agriculture area and  that it was for this reason that the government was not ready to abandon such an economically viable road. Meanwhile residents along the Chongwe hospital/ Katoba road expressed concern at the poor state of the road. They complained that the road had become impassable in areas where it was not tarred. David Phiri of Kampekete village in Manyika ward thanked the government for the project. He however appealed to the government to expedite the project which he said had prolonged for far too long and that the people were tired of waiting for the completion of the road. He said the stalled project was a serious setback as the people living beyond where the upgrading of the stalled road had ended were finding it difficult to deliver farm produce to the market. He said that even services such as police   and health care were a challenge in most areas and  that transporting expecting mothers that are referred to the district was also a challenge. Another resident of Ntanisya village in Lwimba ward described the poor state of the road connecting the area to Chongwe central as a hindrance to development and observed that the heavy rains being experienced had even worsened the poor state of the road.