With concerns mounting on the deplorable state of the road between Lusaka and Ndola, which is one of Zambia’s busiest highways and the need for a timely solution to make the road safe before the rainy season sets in, government has confirmed that the specific timelines for resuming the construction of a dual carriage way are not yet set.
Minister of Infrastructure Charles Milupi who had initially set mid year 2022 as the target date of resumption of construction works under Public Private Partnership after continued reports that the road has become a death trap has revealed that the process between government and the private party negotiating team is underway and not yet concluded.
Milupi whose ministry’s budget received the some of the biggest cuts for 2022 said the country will be informed as soon as the process is completed with regards to the Lusaka-Ndola Dual Carriageway. He said there is need to give both the concessionaires and the government team enough time to conclude the negotiations before anything is announced to the nation.
When asked to confirm which private company the Ministry is currently negotiating with [after the initial shortlisting] and when works will resume due to increasing safety concerns and accidents, he stated that it cannot be pre-determined on how negotiations are going to go hence the need to give both teams time. He could however not give any specific time range.
In an exclusive Interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the Infrastructure Minister said that the ministry cannot disclosed the private party government is currently negotiating with adding that there are other private companies who are also interested in undertaking the project.
“Let’s wait for the process to be finished and we might have finalized by then, we are at a stage where there are other people interested and if you mention one, then you are giving the impression that that stipulated company has acquired the contract”, he said.
The Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway road construction contract is among the loan agreements listed to have been cancelled by government in its bid to address the debt challenges the country faces and seen as a prelude to obtaining debt restructuring process and getting an IMF extended credit facility for $1.4 billion.
Analysts have however expressed concern on the feasibility of using the PPP model siting the lack of success across the African region of this model. The risk is that either the road tolls may be pegged too high for the majority of road users to afford or that government may be forced to issue out a longer tenure of the concession which may become political and economically untenable.
