• PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu listens to Wilson Musonda, a 20-year-old youth of Bauleni Township in Lusaka, while Special Assistant to the President for Project Implementation and Monitoring Lucky Mulusa and Commerce Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe look on during the opening of the Infrastructure Development Symposium at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka yesterday. Picture By ROYD SIBAJENE/ZANIS

By STEVEN ZANDE –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu has reaffirmed Government’s resolve to continue implementing infrastructure development projects which are crucial in the country’s quest to attain sustainable national development.
President Lungu said he would ensure that infrastructure development programmes were successfully implemented to allow Zambia’s social and economic transformation.
The President said the Government had prioritised infrastructure development because it was linked to the country’s economic diversification programme.
“When we resolve lack of economic and infrastructure development, it will allow people to participate in wealth creation, which will then solve the subsequent problems of unemployment, poverty and other social ills,” Mr Lungu said.
He said this in Lusaka yesterday when he officially opened a two-day Infrastructure Development Symposium, which is being held under the theme ‘Promoting citizenship participation towards a strategy for shared development’.
He said that some projects had stalled or had failed to be completed in time due to project variations and cost over-runs which in some instances had gone to more than 200 per cent.
Mr Lungu called on stakeholders involved in the implementation of projects to help the Government by adopting best practices in their various roles in the project cycles.
The Government was keen to promote local ownership in infrastructure development by involving citizens in finding solutions to challenges facing various sectors in the country.
Mr Lungu said the Government was concerned that most of the projects had been undertaken by foreign companies while Zambians had been given menial jobs in the name of globalisation.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said there was need for optimum use of available resources to ensure that Zambians benefited from the projects which were being undertaken countrywide.
Mr Chikwanda said the Government was promoting inclusive national development by encouraging public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the implementation of various development projects.
Special Assistant to the President for Project Implementation and Monitoring, Lucky Mulusa said there was need for continued monitoring of infrastructure projects to ensure quality structures which would accrue lasting benefits to Zambians.
The symposium is an initiative of the Presidency ends today.