DECONGESTION PROJECT A GAME CHANGER
REFLECTIONS ON NATIONAL VALUES, PRINCIPLES
RECENTLY,a retiree from Eastern Province was forced to abandon his motor vehicle in the middle of the road in Lusaka on the busy Great East Road between the Munali round about and the University of Zambia (UNZA).
The mid-morning traffic was so heavy that the man felt hemmed in as he could not manage to wriggle and wiggle his way out, a feat “Lusakans” were however performing with ease.
The cacophony of honking and swearing from impatient fellow motorists was as intimidating as it was confusing.
Unable to bear the ordeal any longer, the man simply switched off the engine, removed the ignition key, locked the vehicle and started walking away, to the surprise and annoyance of other motorists and onlookers.
The vehicle was later “recovered” by a Lusaka-based relative he called on his mobile phone.
Such incidents are common in the capital city. The traffic congestions on busy roads across the capital can indeed flay your nerves, especially during peak hours.
But that will soon be history. Last Friday, President Edgar Lungu commissioned the Arcades flyover bridge at the Katima Mulilo-Great East- Thabo Mbeki roads roundabout near UNZA.
A throng witnessed the event, which the President announced on social media.
“Fellow country men and women, I am commissioning the Arcades flyover bridge on the Great East Road here in Lusaka,” President Lungu posted on his personal Facebook page.
This is the second flyover bridge he has commissioned in three months. In August the President commissioned the Makeni flyover bridge on the busy Lusaka-Kafue Road.
Since then motorists have reported faster and smoother movement.
The bridges are part of the multimillion dollar Lusaka Decongestion Project which involves 91.4 kilometres of road rehabilitation, widening and construction. Out of these, 29.3 kilometres of works are dedicated to bus lanes.
The two bridges are part of the four to be constructed across the city to ease congestion, which has been a source of complaints from motorists, business people and commuters.
The other flyover bridges to be constructed under the project are Munali roundabout and Longacres roundabout.
Two years ago Government moved to respond to the plight and complaints of the motoring and travelling public.
On April 11, 2018 President Lungu and his Indian counterpart, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, launched the US$389 million Lusaka Decongestion Project, which has literally turned the capital city into a vast construction site.
The mega project is aimed at decongesting the city by building and expanding roads, fly-over bridges and overpasses to be done in three years by AFCONS International, an Indian construction company.
An elated President Lungu said during the launch that the project was timely because traffic congestion had been slowing down the country’s economic development.
“Traffic congestion is slowing down the economy. People are spending more time driving to
their work and business places than doing the actual work or transactions. This is a source of worry,” he said then.
President Lungu said the project marked the starting point for achieving sustainable mobility in the capital city.
And visiting President Kovind said the project symbolised strong Indo-Zambia friendship.
“This project will change the landscape of Lusaka and we are happy that India is part of
it,” he said.
In 2017 then minister of Housing and Infrastructure Development Ronald Chitotela had announced that besides Government implementing phase two of the Lusaka L400 road project, the Indian government had come up with the new project to include street lighting, by-passes, construction of roads and putting up drainage systems.
“This will add beauty to the capital city besides the jobs that will be created during the project implementation phase,” Mr Chitotela said.
The capital city is beginning to look beautiful, with improved security thanks to the well-spaced lighting.
Government is committed to turning Zambia into a regional transport and business investment nerve-centre by improving road infrastructure in Lusaka and other cities.
The President is confident that once commissioned the flyover bridges and overpasses will enhance efficiency, reduce traffic congestion and save time for the travelling public, which will positively impact the economy.
The project is a game changer. The flow of traffic is improving exponentially, and since motor vehicles are beginning to move faster, they are exerting less weight on the roads, which will scale down maintenance costs.
There will also be fewer exchanges of insults and less swearing among frustrated motorists.
The transformative roads project resonates with “Strategy 3: Construction and Rehabilitation of Road Network” under the ‘Improved Transport System and Infrastructure’ cluster of the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP).
In the 7NDP’s implementation plan, Government is targeting 87, 435 kilometres of road network from the current 11,992km by 2021.
The commissioning of the Makeni and Arcades flyover bridges foreruns the imminent completion of the US$298 million Kazungula Bridge linking Zambia and Botswana, which is expected to facilitate increased regional trade and reduce transit time for freight and passengers.
In the 2021 national budget, Minister of Finance Bwalya Ng’andu has proposed K6, 214, 145, 268 for road infrastructure as Zambia marches closer to attaining the Vision 2030 of becoming a prosperous middle income country.
Improving road infrastructure has been the Patriotic Front’s flagship development programme since it came into government in 2011. It includes the Link Zambia 8, 000, Lusaka 400, C200, Improved Rural Roads and Township Roads projects.
In Chapter 11 of its 2016- 2021 Manifesto the PF pledges to increase and improve road infrastructure across the country as a priority.
“In order to improve the infrastructure backbone created the Patriotic Front government shall in the period 2016- 2021 continue to rehabilitate and upgrade the road network to three star status including feeder roads in all districts to prescribed standards,” the manifesto says.
It says Government will also continue to construct additional inter district roads to open up the country to facilitate accelerated development and improve trade.
The commissioning of the Arcades flyover bridge is yet another step towards the fulfilment of this promise.
Underline the compound subjects and predicates, of the following sentences
Why don’t you wait and see the parade?
1. Men, women, and children were herded into the huge auditorium.
2. Can serious music and jazz appeal to the same person?
3. The great highways and trunk roads have increased the rate of automobile travel.
4. At camp we swam, sailed, or fished practically all day.
5. (You) gather and preserve the seeds carefully through the winter.
6. Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear are usually considered the four great tragedies of Shakespeare.
7. Most of the newspapers have criticized and condemned the work of the committee.
8. Strange birds and insects sang and chirped and hummed in the underbrush.
9. There were three cows and a new-born calf in the pasture.
10. Have you seen or heard anything about the concert?
Note: The underlined and yellow-highlighted words are predicates while the bold words are subjects.