Govt releases K400m for road contractors

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 17:15:23 +0000

GOVERNMENT has released K400 million to the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) to settle arrears owed to road contractors, consultants, and other service providers.

NRFA spokesperson Alphonsius Hamachila has said that in line with Government policy direction, emphasis on payment would be placed on the construction and rehabilitation of roads that support economic growth and foster regional trade.

Mr Hamachila named some of the road projects earmarked for payment as Chingola-Solwezi Road and Kitwe-Chingola dual carriage way where the injection of funds would see the acceleration of works on these projects.

He further said that payments would be distributed among  all local road contractors and consultants and over 400 routine maintenance contractors whose scope of work was mainly vegetation control, pot-hole patching and road line marking.

And Mr. Hamachila has disclosed that the NRFA had been appointed as a Tax Agent by the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), to enhance tax revenue collection from road contractors and consultants.

“The NRFA is, therefore, urging all road contractors and consultants to regularise their tax position with ZRA before payment can be effected to them,” he said.

Mr Hamachila said the Agency would complete the payment process within this week.

Few weeks ago, Finance Minister Felix Mutati revealed that the Government had secured K1 billion to clear contractors and ensure all the arrears companies that provided services were addressed in a bid to move the economy forward, and open a new page