NDC chief chewed CDF for borehole?

CHIMWEMWE Member of Parliament Mwila Mutale has challenged the Kitwe City Council (KCC) to explain why it has failed to recover the money paid to two companies which failed to carry out a project of sinking boreholes in Kawama and Kamatipa townships under the 2014 Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

But Kitwe Town Clerk Bornwell Luanga said the council would use any possible means to recover the money from the two companies because public funds needed to be accounted for.

Mr Mutale said the council should explain why it had failed to recover more than K490, 000 of the 2014 CDF money paid to Basstex Engineering and Billian Works who had failed to sink the boreholes in Kawama and Kamatipa townships of Chimwemwe constituency after the local authority awarded them a contract.

The Chimwemwe MP told the Daily Nation in Kitwe that the council should ensure that it recovered the money from the two companies, especially that one of the companies was allegedly owned by the district chairman for the newly formed National Democratic Congress (NDC) which has been making allegations against the government.

Bassstex is owned by NDC district chairman and is a company which was awarded to sink a borehole in Kawama township but he got the money without sinking a borehole.

“He was given K35, 000 for the project he failed to deliver and to make matters worse, the council has gone to sleep. It has failed to recover the money it paid to this contractor. So, as MP, I want to know why has the council failed to recover the money paid to the company which failed to deliver a project,” Mr Mutale said.

Mr Mutale said Billian Works was also given a contract by the council under the 2014 CDF to put up solar pumped boreholes, but the company failed to deliver the project.

He said the company was expected to put up three solar pumped boreholes, one at Minsenga School and two others in Kamatipa, but had not put up anything.

He said the company was paid the full amount including retention, but has not done anything and the council has not made any efforts to recover the money.

“The total cost of the project was estimated to be K450, 000 and the contractor was paid the full amount including retention, but nothing has been done where he was expected to do some works. So with this a scandal, you can’t pay a contractor the whole amount plus retention before he can start some works.