19 Oct 2020

The ferries currently used to cross the Zambezi and Okavango Rivers will be used for tourism purposes once the Kazungula and Mohembo bridges are operational.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Mr Thulaganyo Segokgo, said this on Saturday when responding to questions from journalists during a press conference after inspection of the Kazungula Bridge.

Zambia minister of housing and infrastructure development, Mr Vincent Mwale, was part of the inspection team.

On the anticipated Mosetse-Livingstone railway line, Mr Segokgo said Botswana had budgeted for a feasibility study of the project.

Minister Mwale said his government was working on the feasibility study of the railway line.

On other issues, the Zambia minister admitted that even though there were instances of delayed payments of the Kazungula Bridge contractor on their side, all payments were currently up to date.

He said they prioritised the project given its contribution to the smooth flow of goods and services between Zambia and Botswana and the SADC region as a whole.

He said the ferries that were currently used across the Zambezi River into Botswana would at the completion of the Kazungula Bridge be moved to other areas where there were water bodies for back-up.

As for the families who were relocated from Kazungula in Zambia to Lumbo, the minister indicated that they were all satisfied except for one who was unhappy with compensation and took the matter to court.

Kazungula Bridge lead engineer, Mr Kobamelo Kgoboko said they were proud of the safety record of the construction. He, however, said off-site, three lives were lost.

Mr Kgoboko explained that the lives included those of two children who drowned and died in a pit that was used to drain water from the campsite in Kasane and another child who was knocked down by a tipper truck on the Zambian side.

Mr Kgoboko indicated that 32 houses in Plateau cracked as a result of the construction processes but after consultations with the owners a contractor was engaged to repair all of them and the matter was closed.

Meanwhile, the anticipated 430-kilometre Mosetse-Livingstone railway was expected to be joined to a two-kilometre railway line that was already in the middle of the Kazungula Bridge.

It was planned that before a train could train enter the bridge, vehicles would first be cleared off since the two modes of transport could not move simultaneously. ENDS