THE Kazungula Bridge and the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) require around US$ 1million for effective annual maintenance.
Project Manager Pius Seone said without frequent maintenance of the bridge and the OSBP on the Zam bian and Botswana side, the facilities will deteriorate with time and huge amounts would have to be spent on renovations.
He said both countries could not afford to spend US$ 250 million on a massive infrastructure and fail to secure funds to maintain it. He said before the tions on the Botswana side.
Mr Seone said this when Zambia Revenue Authority(ZRA) board members led by the Board Chairperson Caleb Fundanga toured the Kazungula Bridge and the border fa cilities on the Zambian and Botswana side, on Thurs day, last week.
Kazungula Bridge Authority (KBA) could be put in place, his company was tasked to superintend over the facilities, but without financial resources.
“I urge our superiors in both countries to plead with the powers that be that maintenance of the bridge and border facilities should be taken seriously. I know we have agreed as member countries that we are going to form an authority that will take care of that, but for now, that authority has not been put in place and we need to do something urgently.” Mr Seone said.
He said funds to maintain the facilities should be availed as a matter of ur gency in order to protect the infrastructure.
Dr Fundanga called on the two countries to work hard and ensure that the KBA was established as soon as possible and maintenance funds made available.
He said the lack of main tenance funds for the multi- million dollar facilities was a serious shortcoming for both countries.
“In Africa, you can put up very nice structures, but if you do not maintain them, they start crumbling because they are not well main tained. It is important that you have the re sources to do the necessary maintenance works,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Fundanga said ZRA had embarked on a K 24 million hous ing project to construct 80 houses for revenue officers in Kazungula District.
He said the housing project was expected to be completed by next year and that once completed, the houses would help cushion the accommodation chal lenges faced by the officers.
