SADC celebrates imminent Kazungula Bridge

MWENGWE KAPEMBWA
Correspondent | Thursday April 8, 2010 00:00

Works and supply minister, Mike Mulongoti, said efforts have been stepped up to ensure that the pontoon is replaced with a permanent bridge without much delay to speed up the transportation of goods and passengers at the Zambezi River crossing that has a long and tortuous history.  

Mulongoti said initial feasibility studies undertaken in 2001 and 2006 have been redesigned and a contractor tasked to evaluate costs and other engineering requirements before the affected countries can decide on the financing and other requirements needed to flag off the work.   

'We evaluated the cost of the project again and what we are now waiting for is a report from the consulting engineers on the costing and other needed information concerning the bridge. We are keen to have the project completed without further delay,' he said in an interview in Lusaka this week.   

Recently, the governments of Botswana, Zambia and Namibia approved the feasibility studies of the Kazungula Bridge that will transverse Namibia's territorial waters.     

The construction of this bridge is hailed as another milestone in the integration of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zambia and Botswana regard the project as important, especially that they have been using an unreliable pontoon at the Kazungula river crossing.

The political differences between Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia had threatened to derail the construction of the Kazungula Bridge, a vital economic link between Botswana and Zambia and the rest of Africa.

With the formation of a government of national unity between ZANU-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare, it is anticipated that the works could begin, given the increasing interest among the key countries that stand to benefit from the project when it is completed.    

Initially, Botswana and Zambia had taken a tough stance against the Robert Mugabe administration following the controversial election and the subsequent presidential run-off, which affected the construction of the bridge after Zambia sided with Botswana over the internal conflicts in Zimbabwe.    

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Business Foundation was forced to caution Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe not to let politics derail the ambitious project as it was meant to develop and foster trade among the SADC member states.

NEPAD described the project, envisioned specifically for developing the mining sectors of Zambia, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as of critical importance to the SADC region and the entire continent.   

According to recent reports, NBF senior project manager, John Roche, had revealed that Zimbabwe, which did not participate in the initial project feasibility study, now wants to make its own assessment.   

'A small portion of the bridge actually goes past Zimbabwe territorial waters, hence Zimbabweans also want to do their own feasibility study,' the report said, quoting Roche.   

He advised Botswana and Zambia to persuade Zimbabwe to consider the long-term implications given the economic importance of the project to the SADC region as a whole.    (Sila Press Agency)