State House condemns Laissez -Faire on damaged bridges

IT is unacceptable for people repairing our damaged bridges to work at their own pace and taking days off because these are an emergency, Presidential Affairs Minister Freedom Sikazwe has said.

Speaking when he toured Lunzuwa Bridge which is at the verge of collapsing where he found that no works were taking place yesterday, Mr. Sikazwe said such behaviour of taking days off was unacceptable and expressed displeasure the slow pace of works.

“The challenge I have with my colleagues is that is their workmanship. This is an emergency but today they are not working.

It shouldn’t be like that. This must be treated as an emergency and we need to work extra time,” Mr. Sikazwe.

He said Mpulungu was a business area which cannot risk being cut off from other parts of the country.

He said the continued collapsing of bridges was a drain on national coffers.

Meanwhile, Housing and Infrastructure Development Minister Ronald Chitotela urged the RDA to send inspectors across the country to check on the status of bridges and give a report soon to avoid disasters of bridges collapsing due to heavy rains, says

Mr. Chitotela said it was important for RDA to take inventory of the bridges throughout the country and give a proper report about their status to avoid such facilities collapsing.

“Government is doing everything possible to rectify the situation. RDA must send inspectors across the country to check the state of bridges and give a report as soon as possible to avoid these disasters,” Mr. Chitotela said.