Lusaka: Construction works on the K30 billion one-stop border post in Nakonde, Muchinga Province has stalled due to lack of funds, it has been learnt. According to sources, the Government has not allocated any funds in the past two months, hence the delay to complete the project.
But Nakonde council secretary Francis Nkhoma who confirmed the development in an interview from Nakonde at the weekend declined to comment whether the stalling of the project was due to the lack of funds or not. He, however, acknowledged that the project had not been worked on for the past two months.
Mr Nkhoma, who expressed concern over the delay of the project, explained that the main structure of the project had been completed and all that had remained was to furnish and computerise the building.
He said the Border Crossing Company Limited, which had been contracted to finish the works under the new arrangement of Public Private Partnership (PPP), has not worked on the project for sometime now.
"As a council, we are worried that works on the facility have stalled. Although I cannot talk about the issue of funds, we have not been given clear reasons as to why works have stalled," Mr Nkhoma said.
Mr Nkhoma said the border town was becoming more and more congested because the traffic was building up everyday and the current system had no capacity to decongest the border. He said this had also slowed down revenue collection on part of Government.
Mr Nkhoma said the one-stop border once completed, was expected to enhance revenue collection for the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and further increase efficiency in the clearance of goods and traffic as was the case at Kasumbalesa border post.
The construction of the one-stop border at Nakonde border is a major project that Government under took in 2009 for the entire Northern Province. More than 50 per cent of the works on the facility which was scheduled to be completed in September this year had been completed.
Zambia Intellectual Property Crossing Border Company (ZIPCBC) chief executive officer Avishay Dvir said the company was waiting for official communication from the government.
Mr Dvir said ZIPCBC did not get any official communication from the Government hence the delay in completing the project. " We are currently waiting for Government to chart the way forward because we follow instructions from the authorities," he said.
