Mpulungu port feasibility studies concluded
GOVERNMENT has concluded feasibility studies into the construction of a new and modern harbour at Mpulungu port situated on Lake Tanganyika,
Ministry of transport and communication permanent secretary, Misheck Lungu, has said.
Mr Lungu said Government was currently in the process of receiving expression of interest from investors.
Government, he said, intended to undertake the project through a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The Permanent Secretary was speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation in Lusaka. “The feasibility study has been done and it is final, we are now inviting expression of interest for people to develop it.
“We have done the feasibility study, we have the document and we understand what is required and that is very important.
We are still requesting investors to come and see our plan and run it with us on PPP basis,” Mr Lungu said.
About US$50 million is required to commence the construction of the port.
Mr Lungu said the project Lungu.
had taken long to commence.
He explained that Government had received a number of expression of interest from the private sector without action. Most of the investors, he said, were expressing interest without making a commitment and yet the project was viable and lucrative.“The project has delayed, we are discussing it with a number of institutions and we are not getting headways.
We have been speaking to the African Development Bank which has been generating support from other multilateral institutions such as the European Union.
“When we look at the study, it shows that the project can make a profit so it is self-sustaining because the great lakes region has a bigger appetite for raw materials from Southern part of Africa and Zambia inclusive,” Mr Lungu said.
Mr Lungu said the timeframe for the project depended on when an investor would make a decision and inject money.
“Most of the interest we have had so far is just expression of interest, talking but no action.
The time frame is long gone and we are getting impatient because we want to see things done and make progress.” hesaid.