Zambia's President Rupiah Bwezani Banda and the Ambassador /Head of the EU Delegation to Zambia Derek Fee on 5th November officially commissioned the rehabilitated Zimba-Livingstone Road at a colourful ceremony in Livingstone. The road is part of the North-South Corridor, linking Zambia to countries in southern Africa such as Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe with other countries in central and north Africa.
Rehabilitation cost of the 72.8 km Zimba - Livingstone road is estimated around 52 million Euros. The project was jointly funded by the EU and the Zambian Government, with the EU contributing 15 million Euros to cover the design review of the entire road, and supervision and rehabilitation works on 42.8 km stretch of the road. Rehabilitation of the EU fundedworks started in 2009 following the award of a contract to China Geo Corporation.
Thanking the EU for its support to the project, President Banda said: "It is my prayer and hope that this (commissioning of the road) does not mark the end of the EU's generosity but that the Commission will continue to assist the country in infrastructure development."
The President further urged communities living around the Zimba - Livingstone road and the general public to take good care of the infrastructure, saying the road was constructed using tax payers' money.
Ambassador Fee said the EU has, for many years, been funding road infrastructure development in Zambia to support Government's efforts to fight poverty. He urged the Road Development Agency to seriously plan for maintenance of all newly rehabilitated roads in the country to extend their lifespan. Ambassador Fee noted that regular road maintenance has been neglected in the past, resulting in the roads being re-constructed at a very high cost.
