Councillor defends operations of PF-run authorities
By Darious Kapembwa in Kitwe
Tue 26 Apr. 2011, 04:00 CAT
NDOLA’s Itawa ward councillor Menyani Zulu says it is worrying for
senior government officials to exhibit high levels of ignorance on the operations of councils. Zulu was reacting to continuous attacks on PF dominated councils on the Copperbelt by President Rupiah Banda and senior government officials.
“First of all let them be sincere Mbulakulima is a minister in the province that has a poorest road network in the country and he knows that
his government has given the responsibility of maintaining roads to the RDA and not the councils, but his government has deliberately chosen to fool the people that PF-controlled councils are not maintaining roads,” he said.
Zulu said the PF councillors got into councils when the local authorities owed staff huge salary arrears that have since been dismantled.
“Things are moving smoothly because workers are not owed millions like was the case when MMD dominated these councils, let Mbulakulima tell the nation why there is no road from Ndola to Mufulira because the Ndola-Mufulira road is a mess and the Sabina-Mufulira road is something else and he is there cheapening himself and his government on issues that themselves least understand. Luckily, the people of Zambia especially in most urban areas are learned and laugh at such crap,” said Zulu.
“In the case of Ndola City Council, we have improved the operations of the council by employing qualified staff…we have bought vehicles for all directors who previously used to walk and the graders that they claim to be using to grade some township roads were bought by us, what is he talking about, let him and his central government tell the people how much they have misappropriated in the last 20 years which was meant for roads in the nation than talking about things that never exist in councils.”
Labels: COUNCILS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, PF, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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COMMENT - 'Government has no sufficient funds' so tax the mines!
We treat both foreign, local contractors equally- Saili
Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 10:06
The Road Development Agency (RDA) has dismissed claims that it was favouring foreign contractors in awarding contracts for road construction.
RDA head of public relation, Loyce Saili said the agency does not favour any contractors when awarding contracts but was offering equal opportunities for local and foreign contractors.
Mrs. Saili said all contractors bidding to win road construction contract were given an equal playing field but noted that local contractors needed to improve their capacity in terms of technical, equipment and trained personnel.
She disclosed that some local contractors have failed to execute projects they were given in certain parts of the country.
She said there was need for local contractors to partner with foreign contractors to enhance their capacity in road construction and rehabilitation in the country.
Mrs. Saili has meanwhile said the agency has embarked on rehabilitating and upgrading city roads in Lusaka to address the problem of congestion.
She said disclosed that the agency recently constructed the Lumumba-Kamwala by-pass road at a cost of over K10 billion as a way of easing traffic congestion in the city.
Mrs. Saili said the agency was also rehabilitating roads in Ibex hill, Avondale and Twin Palm road at a cost of over K57 billion.
Commenting on the Ndola-Mufulira road, Mrs. Saili said the road requires re-construction but noted that it will gobble huge sums of money.
She said the estimated cost per kilometer of the Ndola-Mufulira road is K3.5 billion.
She said currently, government has no sufficient funds to reconstruct the road noting that it would be worked on next year when funds are secured.
Mrs. Saili explained that most urban roads on the Copperbelt and other parts of the country require major overhaul, mainly rehabilitation and reconstruction work.
She said the road network of urban roads that needed to be worked on was around 5,000 kilometers at the rate of over K3 billion per kilometer.
Mrs. Saili however observed that some contractors, who have been engaged by RDA to do work, have performed very well while some have not performed satisfactorily.
She said the contractors that have not performed well will have their contracts terminated for poor performance.
She explained that the RDA does not take pride in terminating contracts it was obliged to ensure that contractors met the required quality of roads which will give tax payers value for their money.
Mrs. Saili said the whole K1.3 trillion that was budgeted in the 2009 RDA annual work plan for roads, has been used and roads been.
ZANIS
Labels: CONTRACTORS, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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Mpulungu residents demolish building for road works
Written by Emmanuel Kapampa in Mpulungu
Saturday, March 07, 2009 10:13:21
THE demolition of buildings, stores and other structures built along the main road in Mpulungu has reached an advanced stage.
A snap survey conducted yesterday revealed that most shop owners and businessmen whose structures have been earmarked for demolition had engaged people to bringing down their structures.
The works have intensified in order to beat the Road Development Agency (RDA's) ultimatum to the businessmen to have the buildings demolished by March 31 in order to pave way for the tarring of the main road by Raubex Contractors.
Last week, district commissioner Willie Simfukwe informed the businessmen that government through RDA has allowed that the period for the demolition of the structures built in the road reserve area is extended to March 31, 2009.
This was after the traders complained that they were not given enough time to carry out the exercise because they were unprepared.
Simfukwe however reminded the traders to be through with removing their valuables by end of March, adding that no further extension would be allowed.
He warned that the contractor, would remove any other structure remaining on the road reserve area by force if necessary, on April 1.
The government has awarded a multi million-kwacha road contract to Raubex Contractors to work on the Kasama-Mpulungu Road.
The works, expected to be completed by the end of this year, involve resurfacing, shouldering, pothole mending and general road maintenance.
Labels: INFRASTRUCTURE, MPULUNGU, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS, WILLI SIMFUKWE
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NRFA addresses concerns on funding of road works
By ROAD FUND CORNER
Tuesday May 13, 2008 [03:00]
In this issue, the Road Fund Corner will highlight some suggestions and concerns raised by Mr. Robert Kelly Salati, a Lusaka motorist and budget expenditure analyst, who has written to nrfa@zamnet.zm as follows:
“I have been following your publications in the press concerning the road works and the fund disbursements that have been made across the country as a motorist and a budget expenditure analyst. If the rationale for the publication is for the members of the public to follow road projects you are funding, the information given is not sufficient.
The reason is that even if the amount is stipulated, date of disbursement and name of road project given, members of the public will not effectively monitor the works since they do not know exactly what the contractor is supposed to do with the funds disbursed for a particular road project.
For example, if the amount disbursed is high, does it mean a good job is expected? If the amount is low, does it mean the job should finish early? You cannot expect a layman to use that information well.
Therefore my proposal to the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) is that you should indicate the information in tabular form showing the expected work to be done by the contractor for every disbursement done and approximate date of completion.
With this approach members of the public will act as whistle-blowers for shoddy works since they will know what is expected to be done with the funds disbursed. Knowing the exact nature of the works helps the community to closely monitor the contractor and ensure there is value for money.
Thanking you for making the masses know which roads are funded” - Robert Kelly Salati, Lusaka.
As Mr. Salati has observed, in line with its core values of transparency and accountability, the NRFA publishes quarterly and annual fund disbursements in the print media for all road projects being funded by the Agency through Zambia’s cooperating partners, the Road Fund and government project-specific funding.
The proposal by Mr Salati to the NRFA to indicate the type of road works being funded and the expected completion date is valid and will be incorporated in future disbursement schedules.
The amount of money involved for a certain project can be high or low. Depending on the nature of the project this money will, to a large extent, determine the quality of works to be done as the amount of money available for a project would ultimately dictate the specifications and scope of work in the contract document.
And each intervention prescribed on any road or section takes into account various factors ranging from the purpose of intervention, general condition and usage of the road to financial limitations. Each intervention prescribed has its own price.
For instance, the unit cost can be based on the width of the carriage way, length of the road intervention, whether the road is gravel or tarred and the number of culverts or bridges and the type of the side drains. Generally, gravel roads are cheaper than tarred roads.
Furthermore, the unit cost would also depend on the contractor’s mobilisation costs, quality of the material and the kind of road equipment and manpower to be used.
And for each intervention prescribed, the expected completion date and the terms of payment are clearly stipulated in the contract document, which details the NRFA would be publishing in future disbursement schedules.
It is imperative, as Mr Salati has observed, for road users and all stakeholders to understand the scope of work being funded, and the specifications as outlined in the contract documents for them to arrive at informed conclusions as to whether or not they are getting value for their money.
The Road Fund Corner welcomes all comments and suggestions from road users and other stakeholders on the activities of the NRFA and will endeavor to publish and respond to all the pertinent issues raised.
Send your comments to Road Fund Corner, Box 50695 Lusaka. Email: nrfa@zamnet.zm; Alphonsius@nrfa.org.zm; website: www.nrfa.org.zm
Labels: NATIONAL ROAD FUND ACT 13, NRFA, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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Money allocated to road sector is inadequate, says Chilundika
By Chibaula Silwamba
Monday February 04, 2008 [03:00]
ROAD Development Agency (RDA) acting director Erasmus Chilundika has said the K1.2 trillion allocated to the road sector is inadequate. In an interview in Lusaka, Chilundika said when the government was allocating K1.2 trillion to the road sector, it did not take into consideration the adverse damage the heavy rains had caused to the road infrastructure this year.
“The provision in the annual work plan this year is about K1.2 trillion, we had started with a thought that we could use K2 trillion but the amount that we were given just amounted to K1.2 trillion,” Chilundika said. “With these rains, most of the gains we had made in improving the road network have been washed away. There is quite a lot of devastation in Southern, Central, Eastern, Western provinces, a number of culverts and even physical road infrastructure is being washed away.”
He said the huge investments in the mining, tourism and agriculture sectors require good road infrastructure.
“As you know we are implementing the Road Sector Investment Programme that requires a lot of money; US $1.6 billion (about K6 trillion) over a 10-year period. If we had that sort of investment in the road sector, we should be able to bring the total core road network of 40,000 kilometres into maintainable condition,” said Chilundika.
Labels: INFRASTRUCTURE, RDA, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
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Govt terminates Sable, Basil Reeds contracts
By Mwala Kalaluka
Thursday January 10, 2008 [03:00]
THE government has terminated Sable Contractors and Basil Reeds’ contracts on the controversial Kasama-Luwingu and Choma - Chitongo roads respectively. RDA acting chief executive officer Erasmus Chilundika said in an interview yesterday that the decision to terminate the contracts on the two long-standing road projects was necessitated by the need for cost saving measures in the implementation.
He said the cost for the two projects that were commenced in 2001 and 1998 respectively, were US dollar denominated and as such the terms were not amenable to the prevailing economic situation in the country.
“On the Choma-Chitongo, the contract was signed in about 1998 it’s an old contract and a lot of things have happened, which necessitated the review of that contract,” he said.
“We had a discussion with the (South African) contractor and he was magnanimous enough to acknowledge the fact that the conditions of contract now are not suitable for the implementation of that project.”
He said another reason for the termination and review of the contract was that it had no provision for payment of simple interest in case of delayed payments to the contractor.
“We had to pay compounded interest and that is not very good because you have to pay a lot more money when you delay to pay,” Chilundika said.
“We also have to change the quantities; that is a gravel road, which now has become, probably an earth road.”
He said the RDA had commenced the process to work out a new bidding document for the Chitongo - Choma road.
“We are hoping that within this year, we shall have a contractor of the road,” Chilundika assured. “We were able to pay, out of the budget, about K4.5 billion that we owed the contractor on the previous contract and so we hope that we will be able to start the new works with the remaining balance.”
Choma-Chitongo road was allocated about K18 billion last year.
On the status of the Kasama - Luwingu road, Chilundika said the contract would now be exposed to a competitive bidding process, as demanded by tender procedures.
And the Road Development Agency (RDA) has identified about 11 dangerous spots on the Maamba - Batoka road that need to be worked on urgently before they are completely damaged by heavy rains.
RDA head of public relations Loyce Saili said the dangerous spots would be rehabilitated by Road Construction Company (RCC) with China Geo-Engineering Corporation (CGC).
Labels: CONTRACTORS, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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More funds required for road rehabilitation works, says RDA
By Mwala Kalaluka in Choma
Tuesday January 01, 2008 [03:00]
THE Road Development Agency (RDA) has said the demand for funds to rehabilitate collapsed infrastructure will increase this year due to the
unusual rain patterns being experienced in the country. And the RDA has blamed the washing away of two vital bridges on the 69 kilometre Maamba-Batoka road on vandalism. The development, which has been caused by fast flowing water channels, has led to the cutting-off of Sinazongwe from the rest of the country.
RDA acting chief executive officer Erasmus Chilundika said in an interview that this year’s financial requirement for emergency repair works on infrastructure damaged by the rains would undoubtedly exceed last year’s K13 billion.
“No doubt there is need for more money, but also for timely releases of the monies, because if funds are released in September and you have a backlog of repair works, that leads you to the rainy season. So far, though our engineers have started repairing some of the infrastructure (for 2007), but there is very little they can do under such conditions,” Chilundika said. “The total budget was K13 billion and I think K4 billion was released, with another K2 billion being released last month and so that brings to about K6 billion released out of the K13 billion that was budgeted for.”
He said more roads and bridges were already getting damaged following the onset of the rainy season.
“So we need more money and we need that money now so that preparatory works can begin and so that during the dry season we can complete those damaged structures,” Chilundika said. “We are going to join hands with the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU). We just need to give them a report of what emergency materials we need.”
And Chilundika described the situation on the Maamba-Batoka road as precarious.
“The issue here is that the culverts have been vandalised, weakening the whole structure,” he said. “But more than that, the rainy patterns have been unusual, that being the case the structures have been weakened.”
He said the RDA would place some bailey bridges at the spots within the next three days in order to open up the road.
Meanwhile, over 250 vehicles were stranded on both sides of the Katwereza Bridge on the Lusaka-Chirundu road after a culvert gave in on Sunday.
The busy road has also been cut-off after a section collapsed in Siavonga’s Lusitu area.
And about 3,000 villagers in chiefs Hanjalika and Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka have been left homeless after the Magoye River burst its banks causing severe flooding.
Several herds of cattle, goats and chickens have not been accounted for while household property and maize fields have been destroyed.
Mazabuka district commissioner, Misheck Chiinda, who inspected the area, described the situation as a disaster.
Chiinda soon after the tour of the affected areas urged the Office of the Vice-President to quickly send tents, food, blankets and chlorine to the affected areas to avert a possible outbreak of disease.
He said 520 homes and 30 toilets have been completely submerged in water.
Chiinda said in Magoye township 60 homes and 30 toilets have been submerged in water, while Chitongo area in chief Hanjalika had 60 homesteads swept away by the floods.
He also said a villager of Chitongo was trapped on an island with his 15 herds of cattle because of the high water levels.
Chiinda said the bursting of the river started around midnight on Sunday.
He, however, said no casualties had been recorded and that the stranded villagers had been accommodated at Chitongo and Magoye basic schools.
In chief Mwanachingwala’s area, five villages along the banks of the Magoye River have also been swept away by floods leaving 400 families stranded.
Chief Mwanachingwala described the situation as a disaster which needed urgent government attention.
Labels: RDA, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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Prof Chirwa links road traffic jams to collapsed rail system
By Chibaula Silwamba in Livingstone
Tuesday November 27, 2007 [03:00]
ROAD traffic congestion is the consequence of the complete collapse of railway system in Zambia, UK based automotive engineer and University of Bolton lecturer Professor Clive Chirwa has said. And Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) road transport manager Robert M’tonga said 55,000 vehicles were registered last year alone in Zambia. Making a presentation dubbed,
‘Road congestion: What are the business challenges?’ during the Zambia Institute of Marketing (ZIM) annual conference on Saturday, Prof Chirwa said road traffic congestion affected delivery of services, products and disturbed production and in turn disrupt economic growth.
“Every time I come to Zambia, I don’t see a single locomotive moving on these railways. Where I come from, every minute, I see a train moving from A to B,” he said.
“The most important thing is to develop rail infrastructure. I have gone to the minister of transport and we had discussions to see how we can revive the railway system and push the railway system to what it is supposed to be.”
Prof Chirwa said the government should come in to revive the system and not depend on the private sector. He said that roads today move most products that were moved by rail. He said to make matters worse, roads were still colonial in nature and suggested the construction of more roads to suit a modern society.
Prof Chirwa said that the solution to the roads congestion had to be found now and not later in 10 or 15 years time.
“Five thousand cars in the colonial days to millions of cars today on the roads means you cannot maintain the same roads which you had 43 years ago,” he said. “We also need toll system to protect roads and bridges.”
He proposed coming up with a congestion charge on motorists ‘wandering’ about on busy roads as it was done in other countries.
“Every single time you want to make a movement into that area, you need to have control. We don’t need to have, for example, many people who are just visiting or just coming from other towns to pass through the city centre.
They can go round the city centre in order to create a clear flow, but you find that most of these vehicles are coming through the city centre and creating congestion,” he observed.
“So those people who have got no business to do in the city centre are the ones who can be charged to pay congestion charge. That would control congestion. This happens in all big cities around the world and London is a good example. When you go to Westminster you will pay a pound as congestion charge. What they are trying to do is to let people who have business in there go free of charge and move faster.”
He further suggested the use of rivers for transportation of goods.
“The rivers in Zambia do nothing apart from people moving from point A to B on small canoes. We can bring barges, barges are ships which sink less and therefore can carry the goods,” he said. “We can move goods from the Copperbelt Province all the way to Solwezi and come to Livingstone.”
“We must look at that in depth in order to understand how we can use the rivers to transport goods. These are ideas which people need to look at. You can move all the copper on the river,” Prof Chirwa said. “Therefore the river and railway transport become extremely important for a landlocked country. If you don’t have these infrastructure then you are doomed, there is no development that can take place.”
Prof Chirwa said some time back an engineer proposed the construction of circular roads in Lusaka but his suggestion was rejected on the basis that it was expensive.
“We could have done that and it was cheaper that time but now it has become difficult and expensive,” said Prof Chirwa.
And M’tonga said the increase in vehicles was good but most drivers had no licence.
“We are having a lot of accidents and many young people who can contribute to the growth of this economy are dying in road accidents,” he said.
M’tonga suggested that companies make different times at which employees report for work.
“Those are some of the initiatives that are being implemented in societies where congestion has been a problem,” said M’tonga.
Road Development Agency corporate affairs manager Kasote Singogo said some billboards on roadsides were a nuisance and lead to accidents.
Labels: CLIVE CHIRWA, INFRASTRUCTURE, RAIL, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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Rehabilitation of Zimba-L/stone road to be delayed
By Mwala Kalaluka
Wednesday September 12, 2007 [04:00]
ROAD Development Agency (RDA) acting director Erasmus Chilundika yesterday said the rehabilitation of the Zimba-Livingstone Road will be delayed due to problems in the procurement process. Briefing the press, Chilundika said the European Union funded rehabilitation of the 72-kilometre Zimba-Livingstone Road was scheduled to commence this month but that the process had been delayed.
He said the four companies that bid for the over 20 million Euros funded project were found to be non-responsive to the selection criteria that was seriously scrutinised by a panel from the RDA and observers from the European Commission in Zambia, finance ministry and the National Authorising Office of the European Development Fund.
“The tender for the rehabilitation of the Zimba-Livingstone Road was advertised as an open tender on January 30, 2007 in the local print media and the European Union website and closed on May 4, 2007.
The bids were opened on the same day at the Zambia National Tender Board in the presence of the bidders who chose to attend,” he said. “Four bids were received at the close of the tender from both international and local firms.”
Chilundika said only one South African company applied for the tender as most firms from that country were engaged in construction works ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Among the local companies that failed to meet the administration requirements on the road tender was Sable Contractors and Raubex.
“The tenders were unsuccessful as contractors failed to meet the administrative and technical compliance,” he said. “According to the European Development Fund tender procedures and those of the Zambia National Tender Board, the tender had to be cancelled because it was unsuccessful and fresh tender called.”
He said the bids failed because the contractors submitted wrong bid bonds and the inclusion of personnel from non-African, Caribbean countries.
“In addition the bids received were generally very high. The lowest bid was K118.58 billion and the highest bid came in at K154.4 million,” Chilundika said.
“The tender for the rehabilitation of the Zimba-Livingstone Road will therefore be readvertised by the end of 2007 after a review of the project has been completed. It is expected that the road works should start after the rainy season.”
And Chilundika said RDA was not careless by allowing the company engaged by Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) to transport its 140 tonnes cool box into the country.
He said the transporter would have to pay for the costs for any damage that would be noticed within 60 days after the passage of the cool box.
Last week, a South African company, Vanguard, transported a 50 metres long cool box to Chingola. Vanguard has since paid US$35,000 for any possible damage that would be caused to the roads and bridges where the truck passed.
Labels: RDA, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, ROADS
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Roads boss arrested
By REBECCA CHILESHE
DRUG Enforcement Commission (DEC) has arrested Road Development Agency (RDA) director and chief executive, Watson Ng'ambi, for allegedly attempting to obtain over K3.5 billion by false pretences. DEC spokesperson, Rosten Chulu, said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the commission’s Anti Money Laundering Investigations Unit arrested Mr Ng'ambi, of plot 23617 Chainama, Lusaka, along with Mulenga Kapembwa, an accountant of 1369, off Palm Drive in Chelston.
The two men have been charged with attempting to obtain money by false pretences. "While acting jointly with others, the suspects instructed National Road Fund Agency to pay contractors, Turner Construction Limited/Bicon Zambia Limited and GM International Limited /Rankin Engineering Associates for the projects they were undertaking in Chingola, Ndola, Choma and Mazabuka respectively.
It was alleged that the accused, with intent to defraud, re-submitted copies of the advance payments already paid to contractors claiming more payment, thereby creating a double payment amounting to K3 595 577 355. Last Sunday, DEC arrested RDA principal engineer, Stephen Petwe for the same offence.
Meanwhile, the DEC in Central Province has arrested Jonathan Tembo, a businessmen of Matero, Lusaka, for trafficking in 75.2 kilogrammes (Kgs) of cannabis. The commission has also arrested Levis Munyika 29, for trafficking in 0.38 grammes of the same drug. Mr Chulu said in North-Western Province, Brighton Katunda, a businessman of Zambezi, was arrested for trafficking in 13.8 kgs of cannabis. In Northern Province, the commission arrested Clever Mulenga, for trafficking in 10kgs of cannabis. In Eastern Province, Yobe Zimba, Charles Banda, Mpande Lombe and Okisensio Lungu were arrested for trafficking in 750 grammes of cannabis.
Others are Tom Tembo, Fides Chisi, Kabwe Chilambwe, and Stanely Bamba, who trafficked 345.2g of cannabis in separate incidents.
Labels: ARRESTS, DEC, ROAD DEVELOPMENT AGENCY
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