Government has released K6 Million towards the completion of an administration block in Chembe District of Luapula Province.

Chembe District Commissioner, Christopher Mwansa, confirmed the development to ZANIS, saying the government has responded positively to the appeals made to have the administration block completed.

“I can confirm that the government has released K6 Million so that the project can come to an end. And as I am speaking, the contractor by the name of Belview is already on site and has started installing new fittings,” he said.

Mr Mwansa said the project which had reached 90 percent, commenced in the previous government but due to some uncoordinated expenditure, it was among those that were stopped and then suffered vandalism.

And Chembe Member of Parliament, Cliff Mpundu, who visited the site also expressed pleasure that the contractor is on site.

Mr Mpundu said the district has no proper district administration block, stating that once completed, it will motivate the officers as they will have decent offices.

“One of the challenges here in Chembe is that we don’t have a proper administration block and it is important that our officer’s work environment is taken care of. So coming up with this will motivate civil servants,” he stated.

Mr Mpundu has urged the contractor to expedite the works in order for the infrastructure to become operational in the soonest possible time.

The Member of Parliament further implored the contractor to enhance security at the project site to avoid any forms of vandalism.

“This place is prone to thefts, therefore, ensure that there are security guards here so that we do not suffer a setback of vandalism,” he implored.

Meanwhile, Site Foreman, Misheck Kapela, confirmed that most installations were damaged and stolen.

Mr Kapela has however assured that the project is scheduled to be fully completed in two to three months.

“The time we came here we found some of the things which were installed were damaged and stolen, especially the ceiling board, electrical cables, plumbing, even tiles and all the doors were vandalised. We are starting afresh, so we will finish in two to three months,” he explained.

Anthony Musonda, a civil servant, said once complete, the facility will ease government operations.

“I want to thank the government for the opportunity to complete the district administration block, this facility will ease our operations,” he said.