•Mudanyama bridge

By JOWIT SALUSEKI? –

FOR more than three years since the bridge was washed away owing to heavy rains, residents of Mudanyama and Kampemba areas of Mwinilunga are facing a life-threatening reality of crossing a stream using a dilapidated bridge.
The bridge is rickety and members of the local community have in the past years been improvising by placing some poles on top of the pillars, but even these small poles have not helped matters as they get washed away due to heavy rains.
School-going children and teachers as well as pregnant women who depend on the bridge to go to Kanyihampa, Kabanda, Kampemba schools and the Mwinilunga district hospital respectively are the worst affected.
The aged and other people with chronic illnesses and those who need to go for regular medical check ups at the Mwinilunga District Hospital are also faced with the same dilemma of crossing the worn-out bridge.
According to local people, in an attempt to cross the river to Mwinilunga town for their personal errands, some people have ended up falling into this crocodile infested Mudanyama River.
The Mudanyama river is less than 1.5kilometers from the central business district of Mwinilunga town and this route is a popular gateway to Angola via the Lwawu border which located in Senior Chief Kanongesha’s area.
Because of the poor state of the Mudanyama bridge, no vehicles use it and some people who are building houses in the Muvumbu residential area find it difficult to transport building materials.
Some motor bike riders who have had to defy all odds in order to cross this bridge have ended up having their motor bikes damaged because they fall in the river, while some people with bicycles laden with charcoal have also faced the same predicament.?Chilwiji Muzeya, who was found with six 50kilogramme bags of charcoal on his bicycle bemoaned the poor state of the bridge.?‘‘ Two weeks ago my cousin fell into the river, while he was trying to balance on these sticks and unfortunately all the five bags of charcoal which he was taking for sale in Mwinilunga town were washed away by the strong current.
We are appealing to the Government to work on the bridge before the rain intensifies,’’ says Mr Muzeya.?Matilda Foloshi a resident of Kampemba who depends on the bridge to go to Mwinilunga town to sell vegetables at the main market also appealed to the Government to urgently work on the bridge.?“We are calling on the Government to engage a contractor so that this bridge can be worked on as most people depend on this bridge. It will be better if works are commenced before the rain increases,” observed Ms Foloshi.
The rainy season has already started in most parts of North-Western Province.?Headwoman Muvumbu echoed similar sentiments on the poor state of the?bridge, stressing that her area which used to be a village is earmarked for massive development as people have bought plots and were building houses.
Mwinilunga District Council chairperson William Mukang’ala also appealed to the Government to urgently work on the Mudanyama bridge.?He said people were becoming impatient as their lives were in danger when crossing the worn- out bridge.?“The only permanent solution is for the Government to construct a concrete bridge because the previous one which had planks on top did not last long, hence this dilemma which people are now facing,’’ he said.
Senior chief Kanongesha also bemoaned the poor state of the Mudanyama?Bridge and the Kampemba/Mudanyama feeder road.
The traditional leader said one contractor was engaged by Government to construct the Mudanyama/Kampemba Bridge at a cost of k37 million, while another was engaged to rehabilitate the Kanongesha/Mwinilunga?road at a cost of K1.8 million.?“Works on the Mudanyama/Kampemba bridge and the Kanongesha-Mwinilunga?road have stalled because the two contractors that Government engaged?have disappeared in thin air.
Government pumped in a total of K38.8 million in the two projects but?I am wondering how my chiefdoms would develop with such of selfish?minds,” lamented Senior Chief Kanongesha.
The traditional leader whose chiefdom spreads from Mwinilunga to the?newly created Ikeleng’i district wondered how his area would develop?with such tendencies by selfish contractors who were bent on?defrauding state coffers.
He said he reported the matter and had audience with the local?district administration on the two projects but the authorities did?not give him any satisfactory response.?“Government released money for the Kanongesha-Mwinilunga road which?was about K1.8million for clearing and compacting it to gravel?standard but the project has been discontinued without any apparent?reason.?“People don’t know what is happening because it is now more than three?months now, the road has not been worked on.
We want a feedback on why?this Kanongesha-Mwinilunga road has stalled,” bemoaned senior chief?Kanongesha.?However, the traditional leader commended the Government for erecting?a communication tower in his chiefdom but was quick to complain that?most of the time, the tower was not operating normally due to erratic?power supply.?“Sometimes my people have to climb on top on the Chifunga hill in?order to access the mobile phone network which sometimes becomes poor?due to erratic power supply,” said the senior chief.