The construction of the Kazungula bridge project which started in December, 2014, has so far created more than 500 jobs in Botswana and Zambia. By the end of January 2016, a total of 476 people had been employed; out of which 405 were local people while 71 were foreign nationals.
The project which is expected to be finished in December 2018 is also anticipated to create 700 jobs at its peak. This was revealed by Road Development Agency (RDA) Director and Chief Executive Officer Kanyuka Mumba at a contract signing ceremony between Botswana and Zambia last week.
Botswana and Zambia recently signed a contract with Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group Company Limited of China (AFECC) for the construction of One Stop Border Post (OSBP) facilities at Kazungula Border on the Zambian side. The contract is being funded through a loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The border will consist among other things, buildings for clearing agencies, veterinary building, freight terminals, storage buildings, waste disposals, scan buildings, passenger control buildings as well as police buildings.
At the press briefing, claims that workers on the Botswana side were getting more salaries compared to their counterparts on the Zambian side were refuted. It was revealed that workers on both sides of the two countries were getting same wages except that they were paid in their local currencies (Zambian Kwacha and Botswana Pula) which did not have similar values.
Zambia and Botswana Governments are jointly implementing the US$ 161,961, 304.84 Kazungula Bridge project while Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company Limited of South Korea is the contractor for the Bridge.
