The Ministry of Housing and Infrastructure Development has justified that the US$4.3 million was spent on different components at the construction of Michael Sata Toll Gate in Ndola.
President Edgar Lungu over the weekend commissioned the Ndola Toll Plaza whose cost is US$4.3 million and some stakeholders have questioned this figure.
Housing and Infrastructure Development Minister Ronald Chitotela has told Money FM News that there are a lot of things involved in the construction of a toll plaza as well as installation of necessary equipment for it to run efficiently.
Mr. Chitotela says for the first time Zambia has introduced what is called e-tolling that is aimed at promoting transparency and effective service delivery.
“People need to understand that there are other issue relating to the construction of a toll gate such as buying a software, the procurement of cameras, connecting the system to Zamtel’s broadband and be able to monitor at National Road Fund Agency (NRFA), the setting up of backup power in case of Zesco power failure, the building of the actual toll plaza and the setting up of Zesco power line. These are just are some of the things associated with the construction of a toll plaza,” he said.