Livingstone residents have expressed concern over the delayed operationalizing of the newly built inter city bus terminal and the untra modern market five months after it was officially opened. The residents have accused the council of lethargy.
A check with the Livingstone City Council (LCC) has confirmed that the Livingstone Intercity Bus Terminal and the ultra-modern market in Livingstone, which were commissioned in August 2021, are both not yet open to the public, a move that has a huge opportunity cost.
LCC Public Relations Manager Melvin Mukela said the Ministry of Local Government, the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and the council are still ironing out certain issues and once concluded, the two facilities will be open to the public. He however did not disclose the specifics of the issues at play.
Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mukela stated that the two facilities are not open because certain logistics were not put in place but he is confident that the two facilities will soon open. He however did not give a specific timeline.
On the value which the two facilities will give to the tourist capital of Zambia, Mukela explained that it is anticipated that there will be more business as people will be able to take up more shops at the modern market and bus station and that business will improve adding that the two facilities are modernized and passengers will be able to buy tickets online before going to the bus station.
“We are in the modern world and the bus station has been constructed in such a way that it is the state of the art, currently the situation is that Livingstone does not have a permanent bus station. We don’t have a shelter, so bus operators are operating in a difficult condition but once the bus station is open they will have a shelter, they will have a place where they can bath and proper toilets, so it will help both the commuters and the bus operators”, he said.
Mukela added, “You can buy bus tickets wherever you are, you go to the station and just present the receipt and be able to board any bus you wish to get on. It will operate like the way we operate at the airport”.
He mentioned that the local authority would also benefit because more revenue will come in as a result of the shops that will be operating at the bus station noting that the facilities have lifted the face of the district being a tourist capital. The LCC PR Manager added that the council and the residents are all longing for the facilities to be open to the members of the public.
The Zambian Government has over the past decade embarked on a massive infrastructure drive, which eventually led to debt accumulation mostly due to the over 60% depreciation of the local currency – the Kwacha, making US dollar denominated debt serving unsustainable.
Productivity and economic efficiency remains one of the biggest challenges most emerging market countries like Zambia are facing. The country currently has notable infrastructure projects which are completed but not operational, while others are at over 70% completion stage, but are not being completed leading to costly wastage and huge opportunity costs of funds already invested.
