Lack of gravel stalls Mpulungu-Kasaba bay road works

Lack of gravel stalls Mpulungu-Kasaba bay road works
By Moses Kuwema in Mbala
Sat 26 June 2010, 17:20 CAT

ROAD Development Agency (RDA) regional engineer for Northern Province Chapwe Tumelo has revealed that construction works on the Mbala-Mpulungu-Kasaba Bay road have stalled because of gravel challenges.

Speaking on Friday when he inspected the road, Tumelo said the contractor, China Giangxi, who are working on the road were still looking for a gravel pit.

"The challenge we have on this road is the issue of gravel pits so as a result of that, works have stalled but I think we should be starting in two weeks time," he said.

Tumelo said out of the 146 kilometers stretch to Kasaba Bay, 20 kilometers had been cleared up of which five kilometers had been gravelled.

"There are three access routes to Kasaba bay, there is the Mporokoso-Kaputa-Chitundu and Chunga but the road which is better is this one, that's why government embarked on the programme to develop it because they want the Nsumbu National Park to become a fully-fledged tourism resort and of course we have the Kasaba Bay," he said.

Tumelo said the project was supposed to be completed in March 2011 and that the contract amount was K40 billion.

"Works on this road started on January 4 this year and are expected to be completed in March 2011, it's a 15 months contract," said Tumelo.