By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
CONSTRUCTION of the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway will soon start under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
This will enable the private sector to invest their own resources in the development of the public infrastructure facility through PPPs.
State House Permanent Secretary Emmanuel Chilubanama said  development of the long-awaited dual carriageway had reached an advanced stage and would be done through the PPP.
“I must mention that soon we will witness commencement of  transforming the Lusaka-Ndola highway into a dual carriageway through a PPP arrangement,” he said.
Mr Chilubanama said this when he opened the Public-Private Partnership training workshop being undertaken with assistance of the British High Commission in Lusaka yesterday.
He said construction of the dual carriageway would reduce road traffic accidents on the road and facilitate efficient movement of goods and services between Lusaka and the Copperbelt Province.
Mr Chilubanama said since the formulation of a policy framework and the enactment of the PPP Act in 2009, the Government has not seen PPP projects being implemented to the levels anticipated.
“In the face of an ever-increasing population, greater expectations, demand from society and budgetary constraints, it is obvious that Government is facing an increasing amount of pressure to deliver new improved infrastructure projects,” he said.
Mr Chilubanama said to meet these needs and ensure continued development and economic growth in the face of budgetary constraints, the Government has taken the economic and political decision to accelerate the use of private sector finance by adopting a PPP model.
“The design and implementation of PPPs is a specialised job. The conceptualisation, design, promotion, attraction of private sector and implementing a PPP transaction requires special skills and expertise,” he said.
As a result, there is need to urgently build those special skills in the contracting authorities and private sector if the Government was to develop public infrastructure and provide social services through the  PPP arrangement.
Deputy British High Commissioner Sean Melbourne said infrastructure bottlenecks are threatening to slow the progress of Africa and  Zambia in particular.
Mr Melbourne said diverse models of infrastructure development were essential to achieve sustainable economic growth and that PPP could be a powerful tool to support that progress.