CDF Road Rehabilitation Project by ZNS in Kanyama Constituency launched

The reintegration of roads has been flagged off in Lusaka’s Kanyama Constituency under the Constituency Development Fund – CDF Road Rehabilitation Project, while the delivery of rubble and other mitigation measures in response to flooded roads in Kamwala Ward of Kabwata Constituency has taken the course.

Kanyama Constituency Member of Parliament Monty Chinkuli stated during the flagging off of the project yesterday that the overall target of the project was to uplift the 111 kilometres of road network in Kanyama Constituency to bituminous standard, of which road-grading constitutes project activities.

Mr Chinkuli said that the project will begin with economic roads focusing on problem areas such as potholes and those portions that become impassable, especially now in the rainy season, adding that the first road to be done will be Lucky Chance Road that connects Mungwi and Mumbwa roads.

The United Party for National Development – UPND Kanyama Lawmaker disclosed that this is an ongoing project and the contractor engaged to undertake the works is the Zambia National Service (ZNS).

Mr Chinkuli mentioned that according to a BOQ from Lusaka City Council – LCC, the total cost of the project is K291 million, and he hopes to lobby for more funding from stakeholders and well-wishers, including the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as well as the Ministry of Infrastructure Development to complement the CDF.

After taking over government in August last year, the UPND under the able leadership of President Hakainde Hichilema raised CDF from K1.6 million to K25.7 million and it has been increased further to K28.3 million in the 2023 National Budget, and following the massive CDF increment, the country has continued witnessing numerous projects in a lot of constituencies.

Meanwhile, Kamwala Ward Councillor Mainda Simataa stated that the number of reports from Kamwala Ward residents who need flooded roads to be worked on keeps rising with the onset of the rains, and in some cases, he is that told school-going children have to wade through knee-deep water to get to school.

Mr Simataa explained that his team has since delivered over 200 tonnes of coal ash to cover several water ponds in Kamwala South Happy Kids Roads connecting to Esther Lungu Road, 120 tonnes were delivered on Monday, and 80 tonnes today (Wednesday), adding that there are many places needing more extensive works.

“It must be noted that these are temporal fixes to make the roads passable as we wait for the 5% disaster contingency fund under the CDF to be activated, we have had an emergency meeting with the Kabwata Constituency Member of Parliament Andrew Tayengwa who has instructed the CDF Committee to deploy the fund which will further expand our reach with more thorough and lasting works like grading, filling, compacting and drainage digging,” he explained

Mr Simataa has since urged community members to take note that it is their duty to identify critical spots where the rubble should be dumped, and they should bring this to the attention of the Ward Development Committee – WDC Vice-chairperson.

“The areas needing heavy earth-moving equipment for works, will be dealt with as soon as the 5% CDF disaster contingency fund under the office of the Kabwata MP is activated, for now, we’re using our own initiative, and our scope of operations will be limited accordingly,” he noted

“We cannot do everything in one day, but we can do something every day, to solve the present challenges facing our people,” he added

Mr Simataa has since commended the Ward Development Committee – WDC team and the community for calling and pointing out the most critical spots to be urgently worked on and he also thanked the members of the community for offering labour.