The Ndola-Lusaka dual carriageway upgrade project, which would cost $577 million, has been approved, according to THE United Party for National Development (UPND).
The project, which is being carried out through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) and will cover approximately 327 kilometers of road network, including 45 kilometers of the Luanshya-Fisenge-Masangano road in Central and Copperbelt Provinces, is a significant milestone, according to UPND Secretary General Batuka Imenda.
“We are very excited that when in the past, such public events would have been characterised by blood-spilling scenes, the signing ceremony on the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway PPP project was peacefully witnessed by political leaders from various political parties, government officials, traditional leaders, members of parliament, civic leaders, and ordinary members of the public,with much pomp,” he said.
Mr. Imenda said in a statement that the PPP project’s signature between President Hakainde Hichilema’s new dawn administration and the contractor is unprecedented.
“The signing of the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway PPP project between the President Hakainde Hichilema-led New Dawn administration on behalf of the Zambian people, and Macro Oceans Investment Limited, the Concessionaire, at a construction cost of US$577 million, when the initial contract sum for the cancelled contract on the same road as awarded by the PF was US $1.2 billion, is proof that the UPND-led government’s good governance credentials are so far unmatched,” he said.
Mr Imenda said other than the event being historical, given the huge loss of lives recorded on the current Lusaka-Ndola Road, due to road traffic accidents, the UPND members are excited that the works will directly impact about eight million people of the population.
“We, therefore, wonder where the PF, who awarded this same road corridor at a whooping US$1.2 billion, cooked that figure from. Looking at the contract sum of US$577 million that the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway PPP project has been procured at, the PF would do better to eat humble pie and let President Hichilema fulfill his five-year electoral mandate. It is sad that the people of Zambia would have been lumped with a US$1.2 billion loan, and actually US$30 million was paid to the former contractor, just to perpetuate PF’s stay in power,” he said.
