BY STAFF REPORTER
Binga South Member of Parliament, Fannel Cumanzala, recently brought the pressing issue of delayed road rehabilitation in Binga district to the forefront of the National Assembly’s attention.
The two roads in question, the Cross-Dete-Binga town tarred road and the Gwai river to Lusulu via Lubimbi road, have been neglected for decades, causing undue hardship for the local community.
The Deputy Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joshua Sacco, responded to the inquiry by acknowledging the importance of the Cross-Dete-Binga Road, citing previous rehabilitation efforts in 2007 and 2023, with the assistance of Kamativi Mining Company.
However, he revealed that limited financial resources have hindered the surfacing of the Gwai-Binga road, which remains an alternative route to Binga town.
Now, readers can proceed to engage with the discussions in the National Assembly regarding the delays in road rehabilitation in Binga District.
HON. CUMANZALA asked the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development to explain to the House reasons behind the inordinate delays in the rehabilitation of two roads of national significance in Binga District, namely:
Cross-Dete- Binga Town tarred road, which has not undergone rehabilitation for over 15 years; and
the 15km stretch from Gwai River to Lusulu via Lubimbi road, which has remained unsurfaced since the early 1980s.
THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND
INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT (HON. SACCO): The Cross-Dete-Binga Road is a priority to the Ministry, in 2007 10km of the road was resurfaced. During the ERRP programme the whole route was rehabilitated. In 2023 with the assistance of Kamativi Mining Company, 3km of the road was constructed near the Kamativi area.
The Gwai-Binga road is the alternative route to Binga town via Kariangwe Mission hospital but due to limited financial resources only the Cross Dete-Kamativi-Binga Road is surfaced to date. However, during the ERRP 2 phase the whole route was regraded and regravelled to make it trafficable and the route is continuously being graded with the assistance of Muchesu Mine. Plans are there to upgrade it in phases of 10km, however, it should be noted that the upgrading of roads in the province is being prioritised according to the volume of traffic that each road is carrying.