100 TRUCKS MAROONED IN MUSHINDANO
ABOUT
100 trucks have been marooned on the Solwezi-Kipushi road which connects Mushindano because of the poor state of the stretch.
Meanwhile, authorities airlifted 134 pupils from Mushindamo Girls Technical High School through the Zambia Air Force (ZAF) from Mushindamo to Solwezi after closing schools.
Authorities engaged ZAF because the Solwezi-Kipushi road, which connects Mushindano has become impassable
The operation which was
conducted yesterday after the transport who was hired to ferry the pupils from Mushindamo to Solwezi failed to meander the muddy and bumpy Solwezi Kipushi road.
Mushindamo District Commissioner Emmanuel Chihili confirmed the development in an interview with the
Daily Nation.
Mr Chihili revealed that the state of the road had deteriorated due to heavy rain being experienced in the area.
“So, even if we used all sorts of vehicles to ferry the pupils, it was not going to work out because the road is completely blocked by the trucks. Therefore, the only solution was to airlift the pupils, which was done by ZAF,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Chihili has disclosed that Government has awarded the contract to China State to work on the 106 kilometre SolweI-Kipushi road.
He said in the first phase, the contractor would expand and gravel the road and later upgrade it to bituminous in the second phase.
“As I speak, the contractor has started mobilising and they are putting up their camp at Kishela,” he added.
He however appealed to the
Road Development Agency (RDA) to quickly check the state of the Lwenge and Mushindamo bridges on the same road.
Mr Chihili said the two bridges were in a bad state and described them as a disaster in waiting.
The two bridges, he said, were designed to accommodate only 15 tonnes which is not the case now.
“So, it’s either RDA put up a temporary weigh bridge that will be ascertaining the exact weight of the trucks crossing the bridges or find land where the trucks can be offloading before crossing,” he said.