By ROGERS KALERO
THE rehabilitation of Independence Avenue is a clear indication that the Kitwe City Council is putting the funds collected from the toll gates to good use, Town Clerk Mbulo Seke has said.
Mr Seke said the rehabilitation of Independence Avenue and other roads in the Central Business District (CBD) of Kitwe and surrounding areas was being done under the K1 million from the National Roads Funds Agency (NRFA)
The NRFA had released the funds collected from the Wilson Mofya Chakulya toll gate to rehabilitate the roads in the CBD and some townships.
He said, upon accessing of the funds, the local authority embarked on the rehabilitation works, starting with Independence Avenue which had a lot of bad patches
“The Government idea to put up a toll-gates was to ensure that the funds realised are used to maintain the road infrastructure roads. So, the Kitwe City Council with the help of District Commissioner Chileshe Bweupe accessed these funds
“So upon accessing these funds, we started works on Independence Avenue and those who are fair and objective will be able to state that the local authority is putting up some quality works. We started with Independence Avenue because it had a lot of bad patches,” Mr Seke said.
Mr Seke the remaining parts on Independence Avenue was near the Kitwe Stream and the Buchi roundabout before moving to other roads which needed urgent attention.
Last month, Bweupe said K1million from the NRFA would be spent on rehabilitating the bad patches on various roads in the CBD.
Mr Bwepu said the NRFA had released the funds collected from the Wilson Mofya Chakulya toll gate to rehabilitate the bad patches of the Kitwe CBD and some townships so that the residents where the tollgate was located could see the benefit
Kitwe City Council Director of Engineering Services Victor Chawainga said the patching up of potholes in various roads was expected to take one month.
Mr Chawinga said the works being done on potholes was of high quality and would last long hence motorists and members of the public in general should not question the works
“We are mixing Bitumen and stones and we can assure you that we are putting up quality works. If you want to prove us, right , you can come and check some months after we are done,” Mr Chawinga said
