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Speed up works, Sable Construction urged
Mambwe, May 20, ZANIS ——- Government has urged Sable Construction Company to speed up works on the KR290 million Chipata/Mfuwe road which was supposed to have been completed in last year.
Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Bert Mushala observed that the road construction works on the 104 kilometer road which started in 2009 was supposed to be completed within 40 months but had delayed over a long time.
Mr Mushala said this when he together with Mambwe District Commissioner Janet Palukani met Sable construction company Director Nazil Aloo and BCHOD Consultancy Engineer Martin Nalishuwa in Mambwe yesterday.
ZANIS reports that Mr Mushala said government was receiving complaints that tour operators in Mfuwe had difficulties in transporting groceries and foodstuffs to for their lodges due to the bad state of the road.
And Mambwe District commissioner Janet Palukani has warned that government would not tolerate further excuses from the construction company because people had waited for too long for the road works to complete.
But Mr Aloo expressed confidence that his company would complete the remaining road works before the end of this year.
He stated that a stretch between Chipata and Mambwe would be completed within three weeks saying the other 20 kilometer stretch to Mfuwe would be finished by November this year.
Mr Aloo also added that 99 percent of the road works had been done saying the company was currently waiting for the approval of a Variation Order which was supposed to include Bridges and culverts.
“We are waiting for the tender committee to respond to our request to vary the road works to also include gravelling, rock excavation and fills among others,” he said.
He said the company had been facing a number of challenges in the construction works saying there was a shortage of bitumen in South Africa and subsequence hike in the price of cement.
“There was no bitumen at Indeni and in South Africa and the company had difficulties as it had to access it from Iran,” he said.
Mr Aloo said his company is currently importing the bitumen from Iran.
