WAKE UP CALL!

THE countrywide infrastructure development is a progressive blueprint that needs to drift into an overdrive mode for the country to start deriving inherent benefits.

If such an ambitious programme goes well be-yond schedule, the costs will overshoot the esti-mates and distort the financial outlay of the coun-try.

Some of the projects, particularly in Chinsali and Choma, started in 2012 and are still at develop-ment stage six years down the line.

This is the more reason why President Lungu is-sued a stern warning during the tour of Muchinga Province that he will flush out any Government official holding back progress.

Yes, the Head of State is right because there have been glaring inefficiencies in the manner the pro-jects are being implemented and his urgent wake-up call to ministries of Finance, Infrastructure and Housing as well as contractors is spot on.

Projections from entities involved have exposed variations, a sign that coordination has been be-low par.

Some of the contractors have attributed the delays in completing the projects to lack of materials in outlying areas while others have abandoned the projects even after receiving full payment from Government.

It is also in the public domain that some contrac-tors have cited delayed funding from Government as the reason for stalled projects.

Indeed, a meeting of all ministries concerned, con-tractors and provincial authorities, as called by the President, will identify and plug inadequacies.

In the process, counterproductive elements will have to be purged and replaced with more resilient officials of high moral standards. The President was very clear about this.

Some projects have been at 80 per cent for almost a year while others have stagnated for a relatively longer period yet only final touches are remaining to be done.

From the onset, one of the reasons is that there are some sloppy officials who must immediately be weeded out. Secondly, different entities involved in the projects are not moving in tandem in project implementation; they are not on the same wave length.

Muchinga provincial administration complex and residential houses for Government workers in Chinsali should have been fully-fledged by now. Choma, which is now hosting the Southern Prov-ince headquarters should also have been at 100 per cent completion.

Projects in some new districts should have been completed too.

With the intervention of the Head of State, it is expected that all the yawning projects will receive a boost particularly that he will conduct physical inspections in all parts of the country.

Yes, 2018 is a year of action which entails that all Government programmes will be monitored and evaluated closely by the highest office in the land.

Some Government workers in new districts have not moved in with their families while others have been commuting from nearby locations which have readily available accommodation, schools and health facilities.

This is costly not only for the officials involved but also for Government because man-hours are lost in travelling while concentration levels for workers is low.

Secondly, Government is spending colossal sums of money on paying for accommodation in lodges and guest houses for senior Government officials because housing units are still under construction.

The cost of projects is skyrocketing because most of them are well beyond completion time; in many cases, the contract duration was 24 months, but this is the sixth year.

Infrastructure development is meant to open up the country and also to take services closer to the people. It is also meant to improve efficiency in service delivery to the people in all parts of the country.

Police stations, post offices, civic centres, Gov-ernment administration offices and departments, schools, health centres and hospitals are now available within a small radius in most parts of the country.

Once fully operational, life for many people in the country, particularly in rural outposts, will im-prove. The road network is also linking all parts of the country.

Therefore, the wake-up call is justifiable.