DRC unwilling to co-finance tarring of Pedicle Road

DRC unwilling to co-finance tarring of Pedicle Road
By Mwala Kalaluka
Monday August 04, 2008 [04:00]

THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government has expressed unwillingness to co-finance the tarring of the Pedicle Road. And works and supply minister Kapembwa Simbao said a written commitment is required from the Congolese government before the commencement of works to tar the 68 kilometre Pedicle Road. The DRC's Katanga Province Governor Moses Katumbi recently led a delegation to Chembe in Mansa where he met Zambian government officials.

The officials held a closed-door meeting where they discussed financial matters relating to the on-going construction of a bridge across the Luapula River, which has been wholly funded by Zambia and the tarring of the Pedicle Road, to start after the K46 billion bridge project at Chembe.

Before the meeting Katumbi said his government was committed to meeting its 50 per cent financial obligation on the Chembe Bridge in retrospect.

But after the meeting, Katumbi failed to satisfactorily respond to a question on whether the DRC government would also place a financial commitment towards the tarring of the Pedicle Road, which passes through DRC territory in its entirety.

He said allowing the Zambian government to undertake the project was commitment enough.

However, sources that attended the meeting revealed that the DRC delegation said they had no money for them to contribute to the tarring project.

"It is a very difficult problem; our friends from the DRC say that they have no money. You know what that means. That is a position which is not very good," the sources said. "Under international law, that road is fully theirs. It is an indivisible part of the DRC which cannot be ceded to any other country."

The source said it would be unfair for the government to allow the DRC government not to partake in the project, as there were other competing needs in the country vis-à-vis the improvement of the road network.

And Simbao said he would only comment on the way forward after analyzing the report from the meeting between Katumbi and government officials.
However, Simbao said the tarring of the Pedicle Road would not be cheap.

"The commitment is that the Zambian government wants to do that road, because if not, all our efforts on the 'Mwanawasa Bridge won't be realised," said Simbao.