Muchinga Province Police Commanding Officer, Kaunda Mubanga has expressed sadness on the ongoing construction of Kanchibiya Police Station being constructed without following recommended standards.
Mr. Mubanga expressed his worry yesterday when he visited the construction site of Kanchibiya Police Station during his Familiarization tour of the district.
He expressed sadness that despite being advised to follow the recommended standards of a Police Station, the responsible officers at District level went ahead and gave a go ahead to the contractor to begin the construction of the Police Station using design drawings that do not have other components to make it a police station.
Mr. Mubanga said it is against the set standards that a Police Station is being constructed without both a female and male juvenile cell, an armoury, accommodation for the Police officers and an office for the deputy Police officer in charge among other things.
He pointed out that not following the recommended standards of constructing a Police station risks the structure being rejected by the service which he said will eventually become a white elephant.
The Police Chief has advised the Ministry of Local Government to redesign the structure and incorporate the required recommended structures.
“There is need to stop the construction of this Police Station until recommended standards are included,” said Mr. Kaunda.
And the Local authority through the District Director of Works, Innocent Kansembe assured the Police commanding officer that the responsible committee for construction will meet soon and relook at the gaps that have been highlighted.
“The design for the construction of Kanchibiya Police Station was given by the Ministry of Local Government in Lusaka,” said Mr Kansembe.
Mr Kansembe said redesigning the structure will not be difficult because the structures that are on site have only reached slab level.
Meanwhile, Kachibiya District Administrative Officer, Mulenga Yamishi has appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to always consult responsible institutions before undertaking such projects.
Mr Yamishi expressed sadness that redesigning structures will delay the completion of the much needed Police Station and also increase the total cost of the structure.
“I hope the Ministry of Local Government will quickly redesign the structure so that the construction works can resume as soon as possible,” said Mr. Yamishi.