• First Quantum Minerals country manager Kingsley Chinkuli parts company with the road rehabilitation team doing the compaction on the Chingola-Solwezi road after his “tour of duty” on Tuesday.
Picture by MARTIN MUSUNKA/SUMA SYSTEMS.

By MARTIN MUSUNKA  –
SENIOR Chief Kalilele of the Lamba people in Mushindamo district of North-Western Province has paid glowing tribute to First Quantum Minerals (FQM) for intervening in sprucing up the Chingola-Solwezi highway, which was on the verge of collapsing.
The traditional leader said the Kalilele Royal Establishment was highly indebted to FQM for effectively coming to the rescue of the road users which has been stabilised in a professional matter.
Speaking when FQM country manager Kingsley Chinkuli called on him at his palace on Tuesday, Senior Chief Kalilele said the people of North Western Province were complaining over the deplorable state of the Chingola-Solwezi road which had taken long to be repaired.
He said the road was of economic importance to the country and the resolve by FQM to make it passable was the best gift the people of North Western Province and other road users have been given by the mining company.
He said the poor road was posing a huge challenge to road users and it was a reality that if FQM had not moved in to stabilise it, the entire North Western Province would have been cut off from the rest of the country.
Senior Chief Kalilele said it was a huge relief that FQM had mobilised its Roads Department to rehabilitate the road, which is now passable and motorists and other road users were happy with the development.
General Chinkuli who undertook a tour of the entire stretch from Solwezi to Chingola, for an on-the-spot check, said he was overwhelmed with the level of commitment by the FQM Roads Department which has rehabilitated the road with professionalism.
He explained that FQM was fully committed to making a contribution to the country and assured the contractors that had been engaged by Government that, the mining company was merely complementing the efforts of stabilising the road.
General Chinkuli said FQM was not displacing or misplacing any company that was engaged to work on the road but were only concerned with its deterioration which had the potential to cut off North Western Province from the rest of the country.
He said what is good for FQM is good for Zambia, and it was out of that realisation that the company undertook the venture of stabilising the road which created immense possibilities and opportunities for investment which leads to economic development.
– Story courtesy of SUMA SYSTEMS.