By CHILA NAMAIKO –
CONSTRUCTION of more than 60 housing units for civil servants in Choma, Southern Province, is close to completion and they will be handed over to the Government soon.
The houses, which range from high, medium and low-cost, were being built by various contractors at the old Choma-airstrip area adjacent to the K31 million six-storey provincial administration also under construction.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda, who was accompanied by Provincial Minister Nathaniel Mubukwanu, on Friday, inspected the construction projects in the provincial capital and commended the different contractors for recording steady progress.
Mr Chikwanda was impressed that the high-cost houses, which included one for the provincial minister, permanent secretary and other senior Government officials, were also steadily on course.
Most of the houses had already been painted and Zesco was yet to connect power to pave way for Government to commission the units in the coming months.
“We are happy with the progress and quality of the houses, it’s good that contractors were doing a commendable work which is what we expect as Government,” he said.
Once the houses and the provincial administration block were completed, this would help address the critical shortage of houses and office accommodation for civil servants in Choma.
He urged the contractors to continue working in line with Government’s plans of delivering quality infrastructure.
He also assured the contractors carrying out various developmental projects across the country that Government would ensure funding was released on time.
Mr Mubukwanu said people in the province were grateful to President Edgar Lungu for the implementation of the various developmental projects in the area.
He said Choma had continued to record increased infrastructure transformation through the different projects that Government had initiated.