President Hakainde Hichilema has stated that the UPND government has saved more than US$1.2 billion from the cost that the previous PF government was going to spend on constructing the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriage road.
Officiating at today’s groundbreaking ceremony for the highway in Kapiri Mposhi, President Hichilema commended his government for finding a solution to advance development even when it is strapped for resources.
He chided the people who had laughed when the government announced that it would develop the road at a much cheaper cost through a public-private partnership model to laugh again now that the road is being done.
“When people are talking, you should listen carefully then you can make the distinction. I hear a lot of things being said. That they’ve failed. How have we failed in two years and some months? This road was to consume $2 billion, but it is now taking $645-650 million. We have saved over $1.2 billion. That’s what we have saved,” he emphasized.
He described the process of development as a lot of work and likened it to holding a buffalo by its horns, which one must keep holding on to because if you move, the buffalo will maul you. He also decried what he termed the absence of conceptualization of issues as a problem in life.
“The inability to understand things is an even greater problem which leads people to raise issues. Where they should seek more information and clarification, they begin to raise unnecessary issues,” said Mr. Hichilema.
The remarks appear to have been in reference to, especially, opposition politicians who have castigated the PPP model for constructing the road. Some claim that it’s an abuse of public resources, while others allege that the developer will reap much more out of Zambia over time.
He urged Zambians to keep working hard and not to tire because, as with everything else in life, development works by starting from somewhere and moving on from there, and a country was no different.
President Hichilema noted that the Lusaka-Ndola highway’s importance transcended Zambia, calling it a road for SADC, Africa, and the world because goods manufactured anywhere in the world use the road to get to the market.
He said the road exemplifies his government’s approach to favor investment expenditure over consumption expenditure because with the latter, once limited resources are consumed, they end there, while the former engenders opportunities for growth.
“The difference is that if you allocate limited resources to consumption expenditure, it’s gone. But when you allocate resources to investment expenditure it breeds more revenues, more income. It breeds jobs, a market, and other businesses to come along,” said Mr. Hichilema.
He said his government was ingenious enough that, through the PPP model, it is developing an investment like this one, which is critical not only for business and commerce but also for saving lives.
“This road has killed a lot of people. With what we are doing today, we are going to save lives. When the job is done, there will be fewer accidents on this road. The fatalities are too many here, so how does a responsible government respond? This is how we respond, by bringing a dual carriageway.”
He also charged that the road has slowed down business a lot because it’s narrow and that the dual carriageway will lower the cost of doing business because traffic will move faster, and goods, including mining equipment, will arrive quicker than before.
The road, expected to take 36 months to complete, stretches over 327 kilometres and will include the rehabilitation of 45 kilometres of the Luanshya-Fisenge-Masangano road and two weighbridges.
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