€150M MUFULIRA WATER RETICULATION PROJECT ON COURSE – MABETA

KANKOYO Member of Parliament Heartson Mabeta has said the 150 million Euro water reticulation project in Mufulira is 98 percent to completion.

Mr. Mabeta said he was pleased with progress being made on the 60 million cubic litres water reservoir being constructed just behind Pamodzi Secondary School which will not only store water as a backup, but act as an interconnector between the water treatment plant in the mine and Chibolya treatment plant.

He said once the project was completed in the next 90 days, the lack of water which had persisted in the area for 37 years in most of the communities in Mufulira would come to an end even for the next generation.

“The European Union had approved a loan application of € 150 million in 2019 from the Republic of Zambia to rebuild the over 70-year old water reticulation system in Mufulira, Chingola, and Chililabombwe but the project couldn’t start after the PF Government failed to pay interest on the US$750 million Eurobond they got in 2012,” Mr. Mabeta said.

He said the project only started in 2022 due to renewed confidence in the new Government from the international community in the application of loans and grants from the donor community. 

“We are very much aware of the water challenge people in Mufulira in general and Chibolya, Kankoyo, and Butondo in particular have been experiencing but this will soon be a thing of the past,” he said.