By ANDREW MUKOMA
THE embankment road which connects Namwala Boma to Itezhi-tezhi district across the Kafue Plains before crossing the Kafue River has become impassable.
This is due to the continued rains the area has been experiencing in the last few weeks.
Namwala Member of Parliament Herbert Mapani has disclosed to the Daily Nation that for a long time now, the embankment road has been an issue people of Namwala and Itezhi-tezhi have been crying for to be worked on.
However, Mr Mapani said, that this has not been done despite the previous governments making assurances to the people.
The embankment road is a stretch of about 12 to 15 kilometres on the wetlands and is the only reliable route connecting Namwala and Itezhi-tezhi districts.
“One cannot use that road now. We can only use it in the dry season though even then there are a lot of challenges. I was told that under the PF government, that road was supposed to be worked on but it has not been done,” he said
“I want to believe that the contractor was on site for few months and then he withdrew. This is the issue that I am trying to find out if the road was paid for in full and if that is true; then what happened? Few people I have met have told me the road was paid for in full but the money grew legs,” Mr Mapani said.
Asked on the way forward, he said, “I have to find out exactly what happened because the few times I have been getting to RDA, the person I was told to see, we have never met. So, good that you have called me meaning I have to tell you that I have failed to access the person I was told to see but I want to believe that information is not for one officer but for everyone in the office,” the Namwala lawmaker said.
Mr Mapani said going forward, it was his duty to make a follow up on the issue and find out exactly what happened.
“If indeed the money was paid for and the road was not done, it means there is somebody who knows what happened and he has to tell the people of Zambia the truth because we cannot continue spending huge sums of money on one road when people who actually pocketed that money are available,” he said.
He said that it has to be made open to the public to know exactly who used the money or who decided to change that road not to be done.
“You know Namwala is a rural constituency and the road network is very poor. Just a few days ago people were collecting their fertilizer from Namwala Boma but the challenge was how do they deliver the same seeds to their respective places where roads are impassable,” he said.
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