Maravi

Opposition MPs accuse govt of neglecting roads

Opposition MPs accuse govt of neglecting roads
By Kabanda Chulu
Fri 30 Oct. 2009, 04:00 CAT

SOME opposition members of parliament on Tuesday accused government of just focusing on revenue collection at the expense of repairing roads that lead to Nakonde Border Post.

This followed finance deputy minister Chileshe Kapwepwe’s response that average daily collection at Nakonde Border Post in 2008 stood at K1.507 billion while K550.4 billion was collected at the end of 2008.

Malole member of parliament Emmanuel Munaile and his Chinsali Central counterpart Christopher Mulenga asked why government was not taking care of the roads leading to Nakonde and yet the town brought revenue for the country.

Wusakile parliamentarian Barnabas Chellah wondered how the government would collect revenue from Nakonde Border Post in the event that the roads became impassable.

But Kapwepwe responded that all monies collected were taken to the treasury and disbursed for various projects around the country and that the MMD government was working to ensure that all roads across the country were worked on.

And Northern Province minister John Chinyanta said the government had availed K7 billion for rehabilitation and patching up of the Serenje-Mpika Road.

However, Lukulu East parliamentarian Batuke Imenda asked about measures being done to resolve the porous sections of the Nakonde border and Kapwepwe responded that plans were underway to have in place a mobile ZRA team and to purchase a scanner that would ensure compliance.

Chipili member of parliament Davies Mwila asked how much Platinum Gold Equity was expected to invest in Kitwe, how many companies Patents and Companies Registration (PACRO) registered and how much it generated in 2008.

Commerce minister Felix Mutati responded that the company would invest US $23 million to establish the Freedom Park Shopping Mall and Complex in Kitwe.

Mutati said PACRO registered 80,653 local companies, 1,393 foreign companies and 158,869 business names to generate K16.3 billion.

Labels: MPs, ROADS

posted by MrK @ 4:43 AM