PRESIDENT Banda has warned that his Government will not tolerate shoddy works from road contractors who desire to enrich themselves at the expense of Zambians.
Speaking when he officially opened the 85th Agricultural and Commercial Show in Lusaka yesterday, President Banda said Government will ensure contractors do not compromise on quality because Zambians demand value for their money.
“I am aware that the state of transport infrastructure and roads in particular is a major concern to farmers and the business community alike. I would like to assure you that we are working on the rehabilitation of our entire transport infrastructure,” President Banda said.
Mr Banda said he expects contractors and those charged with the responsibility of supervising the construction of roads to ensure that they are built to the highest standards.
“Zambians demand value for their taxes, and as Government, we will not tolerate those who compromise quality standards in order to benefit themselves,” the President said.
President Banda said it was pleasing that the agriculture sector had continued to perform well and congratulated farmers for successive bumper harvests.
He said successive bumper harvests and economic growth averaging 6.6 percent was evidence that the policies of the MMD Government were bearing fruit.
Mr Banda was also confident at the rate agricultural productivity was growing in Zambia; the country was poised for more surplus productivity.
“I wish to state that the full potential for agriculture is yet to be realised. I therefore urge our farmers to adopt appropriate technologies and improved farming practices in order to increase production and productivity of both food and crops,” he said.
President Banda assured that his Government will continue to provide the necessary support to further transform the agricultural sector into a rewarding commercial activity.
He said the measures will include improved marketing of agricultural produce and enhancement of research as well as extension services.
Government will also continue to encourage value addition and promote processing of farm produce into finished products.
“For that reason, it is important to understand that for us to build our economy and to sustain its growth, we need to lay a firm foundation. My Government is therefore implementing measures and programmes aimed at increasing access by all our citizens, both in rural and urban areas, to economic and productive resources,” President Banda said.
He also pointed out that Zambia was on the right path of becoming a wealth economy, given its positive economic growth, B+ sovereign credit, and its recent reclassification to lower middle-income economy by the World Bank.
“Government efforts and policies aimed at improving the economy have yielded positive results. Our economy has for the last three years been growing at an average 6.6 percent per year,” President Banda said.
The President said Zambia was also ranked among the top 10 reformers in the world by World Bank in 2010.
He assured Zambians that his Government will continue to diversify the economy from predominantly copper mining to bring on board agriculture, tourism and other activities such as nickel, gold and oil exploration.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Not news worth,LT you need to talk about how the incoming president (Sata )found a body at scene of an accident on his way to eastern power.
I have honestly seen your efforts, though i should be quick to point out that developing Zambia to the levels we want is a far-fetched dream under your leadership. Thanks pal, you did your part & now it time we ushered in other leaders. Those will be able to see wrongs & correct them. those who will see that zambia is in dare need of devlpmt; those who will see that there is corruption & we need deliberate policy to purge out this evil practice: those who will see that foreigners are reaping and sharing the loot, while zambians remain with nothing to show off. bye
Most of the road works done in 2008 during campaigns have already developed massive potholes and are being redone now. Indeed it shows very poor workmanship by the contractors you engange. You dont derserve re-election VoteHHHHHHHHHHHH
Now that is what am talking about!!!The visionary H.E R B is at it again.Spear heading unprecedented development while his foes like the King Cobra envy and gnash their teeth and do petty politicking just to get undue attention.Benangu bazalila nafuti!!Wapya munzi!!
Khoswe akakhala pamukate sapheka, meaning when people are supporting the ruling MMD, they enjoy these contracts but when the MMD goes they also lose out big time. No wonder a Nigerian proverb states, ‘when you cut the head the ear goes along with the head.’ MMD kuya bebele.
#1
How can you say that this is not newsworthy? If Sata had said this, it would have been news?
Come on, this is what we have been saying all along. A road is tarrred today and next year potholes appear! The President is right. There should be a 10-15 year guarantee on roads so that if anything happens, the contractor is bound by law to repair at HIS OWN cost! Sata finding a body at the accident site is not news. ZP have no sniffer dogs. The law should require all public transport passengers to be registered like airlines.
HIS EXCELLENCY IS CORRECT BECAUSE SOME OF THE CONTRACTERS HAS DONE CHEAP JOBS FOR EXAMPLE ROAD FROM NYIMA TO CHIPATA THIS ROAD HAS BEEN DONE VERY BADLY AS THE ROAD IS UNEVEN AND BUMPY.SABLE TRANSPORT SHOULD BE TAKEN TO TASK BY THE RIGHT AUTHORITIES AND COMPEL THEM TO DO THE ROAD AGAIN OR THEY SHOULD REFUND THE STATE BILLIONS THAT WAS PAID TO THEM
YOU GUYS MAKE ME WONDER WATS WRONG WITH YOUR THINKING. HOW CAN RB BE CORRECT OVER THIS MATTER. COME TO EASTERN PROVINCE AND SEE HOW HE HAS WASTED OUR RESOURCES ON CHEAP JOBS WHEN NOT LONG HE WAS BOASTING ABOUT AWARDING CONTRACTS TO HIS FRIEND SABLE WHO HAS DONE SHODDY WORK. THE ROADS WHICH WHERE FINISHED 3 MONTHS AGO ARE VERY BAD NOW AND NOW WE SEE CHIPATA MUNI COUNCIL EVERY MONTH MENDING THE POT HOLES. WAT CHEAP PROPAGANDA TO SEE THAT HE IS CONCERNED.
Indeed shoddy work! Wait until the rains come, the Mansa Nchelenge road will be worse than it was before they dug even deeper potholes, all in the name of unprecedented development. The problem is that even when they talk about quality, they dont even drive on these roads to feel how people are suffering…….what a shame! Mwalya Mweka Daddy indeed!
NUMBER 3 MALIKOPO YOU ARE VERY RIGHT, I AM REGULAR TRAVELLER TO CHIPATA AND THIS ROAD HAS BEEN DONE UP VERY BADLY, HOW DOES A TRANSPORTER COMPANY LIKE SABLE GETS A JOB TO DO UP THESE ROADS, I CAN ASSURE YOU THESE GUYS ARE NOT EXPERT IN ROAD CONSTRUCTIONS BECAUSE THEY ARE JUST TRANSPORTERS AND I DONT THINK THEY ARE REGISTERED AS A CONSTRUCTION FIRM .GOVT SHOULD LOOK IN TO IT SERIOUSLY BEFORE MORE JOBS ARE GIVEN TO THEM
Give credit were it’s due RB is right, the roads have to be of high standard so we can avoid the fatalities which are taking place.
Pantu RB nao ni shoddy…what can he say for them to listen?
This buffoon is a joker, how can he say this when firstly there is no transparency in the way these contracts are handed out and secondly its not your job to tolerate shoddy works if you let professionals like civil engineers to  monitor the works before final payment is made and if the job is shoddy then its a breach of contract, no payment full stop.A road is like a multi-layered cake which can easily be inspected when it is completed by tube drilling a small hole and inspecting the quality of the the under layers. If you formed a National Road Board comprising of engineers and technicians to certify/ monitor the works, shoddy work would a thing of the past.Â
@DRC, ITS TRUE MAN RB TOO IS A SHOODY PRESIDENT!! LETS WHO WINS NOW…… JUST GIVE YOUR VOTE TO SATA DONT WASTE IT HH COZ IS LOOZING AND ITS A FACT, CHECK PA CB OR LSK OR NORTHEN,VERY BEHIND
Sata is shoody party persident who wants to die in state house and live chimusungu in the office ba PF utulooo. Sata will die very soon
i think RB is politicking on this issue. who gives contracts to these companies? just not long ago BY mwila was given a contract to do some road in Chisamba,wat do u expect to cum out of it?Mr. president do thins the right way u wont have sleepless nyts.
The biggest problem we have is corruption, that’s what has contributed greatly to poor quality of roads. Everyone in the system wants to make quick money at the expense of quality. What gets is that this has been going on for a longtime and RB is well aware of this and he is talking about this now. So my advice to RB is stop being corrupt and everyone will follow you and the quality of roads will improve.
Play no politics with this issue.When the road network is done in a shody manner it means all of us whether UPND,MMD or PF pay more for it as the gov’t needs more tax money to repair them.Your taxes go up for this even if you get your man into plot one.Only those short sighted will extract political mileage from this.
Has anyone taken note of the road between Mansa and Nchelenge??? We keep talking about unprecendented development, there is nothing to talk about here period!!! When people heard that RB would be going for mutomboko ceremony thats when they seem to be doing some shoddy works here n there, come one people, lets be serious and talk development!
RB has not ministers at the moment or he is telling us that he knows the results of the elections even before they happen. He should tell us more about what he knows and exactly what is going on in his mind. How come he has ministers already for the next five years or the next parliament. Has this got anything to do with why the ballot papers are being printed in RSA. Rupiah please iwe, ufisanji mambala?
WADE ADAMS, Landless coner -Mumbwa Road, sure!!
This Banda chap from Malawi/Bulawayo is  Joke. I know Kaunda was from Malawi but he was n’t a joke. He was a serious Man indeed. Chiluba was another Joke, Mwanawasa was n ‘t. Going by this sequence; Sata will be a serious man, the guy after him will be a joke, and so on… Â
But Children are dying in Zambia while these guys play this sequence; Joke,Serious,Joke, Serious,Jokes,…  Frustrating indeed!
How can this I.mbecile say this when he very well knows that It is BY Mwila’s company that has been constructing sub par roads across the nation. Again lip service. If you are serious you should not have adopted Mwila as a candidate and you should stop giving him back door contracts. No wonder you don’t command any respect as a leader.