KITWE MAYOR FUMES OVER RDA FAILURE TO MOBILISE FUNDS FOR CHIBULUMA ROAD
IT is negligence of the worst order for the government to fail to mobilise resources for the construction of an important road like the Chibuluma Road which was a conduit or transit road to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),’’ Kitwe Mayor Mpasa Mwaya has said.
Ms Mwaya said she was devastated over the failure by the government through the Road Development Agency (RDA) to mobilise resources to construct Chibuluma Road which needed urgent and proper construction works.
Ms Mwaya was reacting to media reports that insufficient funding by the RDA have knocked out Chibuluma Road and the agency had regretted the inconvenience caused by the cancellation.
Ms Mwaya said the bad state of the road was not only affecting the residents of Kitwe, but was affecting the whole nation because its deplorable state was creating an impression that the new dawn administration of President Hakainde Hichilema had failed to mobilise resources to construct the road.
She said, because of the deplorable state of the road, criminals were taking advantage of the slow pace at which truck drivers were moving, to steal from them, saying this has resulted into truck drivers losing a lot of goods.
“As I said earlier, this Chibuluma road is a conduit or transit Road to the DRC and so, I expected this road to be among those roads to be given priority by the new dawn government. As Kitwe Mayor, I must say failure to mobilise resources to work on this road is devastating to the residents of Kitwe.
“Not only devastating to my office and the residents, but also negligence of the worst order on the part of government. This road is used by international truck drivers and what impression are these truckers going to have about the much respected New Dawn administration after learning that it has no money to construct this road which is in a deplorable state” Ms Mwaya said.
Ms Mwaya said she had called the RDA Regional Office in Ndola to find out what was the alternative or remedial measures to be taken to ease the challenges and problems which motorists were going through following its decision to knock out Chibuluma road due to insufficient funds, but were yet to respond to her.
She said it was agonising that the two roads, Chibuluma road and Independence Avenue which were conduit or transit roads were in a deplorable state and already Chibuluma road had been knocked out.
Ms Mwaya said both Chibuluma road and Independence Avenue were under the RDA, but with the current state of affairs, there was little or no hope that Independence Avenue would be reconstructed and given a facelift.