The need to urgently find an immediate solution to the completion of the stalled UNZA hostels project seems to be dragging as it has now been confirmed that the Constituency Development Fund – CDF can not be utilized to complete even one of the hostels.
Munali member of parliament – MP Mike Mposha has disclosed that the Constituency development fund (CDF) is not meant for extensive capital projects like the stalled hostels at the University of Zambia – UNZA.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Munali Member of Parliament said the CDF would not be allowed to be used for the stalled infrastructure stating that in any case it cannot finish the projects as they are capital intensive.
Mposha said the constituency development fund is only made to assist in the community to close in the infrastructure gaps that have been identified. Earlier efforts by ZBT to get confirmation on when the hostels at both UNZA and CBU incomplete hostels would be funded and completed by the ministry of infrastructure was inconclusive as the ministry has been heavily defunded.
He said the stalled hostels projects at the University of Zambia – UNZA have its own funding and as the area MP, he is working to find out what is causing the delay or prolonged funding towards the completion of the hostels.
Mposha who is also Water and Sanitation Minister mentioned that he have been meeting the immediate past management and is yet to meet the new management so that they can together come up with a best possible solution on the matter.
We started the meeting with the immediate past management unfortunately there was a change of management so am yet to meet the new team so that together we can look at what we can do to first of whole how much money is remaining to finish off those projects and begin to lobby together with ministry of energy lobby from finance so that the institution is assisted.
He explained that the problem of accommodation and water and sanitation at UNZA is critical hence working to ensure that with the help of ministry of finance once funds are availed to finish off the facilities as it will be a big relief in terms of accommodation.
He said the facilities are important and are on his top of his agenda to ensure that funds are raised so that the structures can be completed. Mposha stated that in the long term, they don’t want to promote the issue of students coming from boarding houses outside the institution stating that students from the highest institution should be within the institution so that there is a morale to study among the students.
