Slow progress M1 rehabilitation works between Kacheche in Mzimba and Chiweta in Rumphi irks Minister

* I am really not impressed because they have not started crushing quarry for the main works—Minister Hara

* They say that they have not found the right material stone; besides that the designs are not ready

By Manasse Nyirenda, MANA

Minister of Transport & Public Works, Jacob Hara has advised contractor for the M1 road rehabilitation works between Kacheche in Mzimba and Chiweta in Rumphi to consider working 24 hours in shifts for them to catch up on lost time.

He said this after inspecting construction works on the road at Chinyolo in Rumphi, where he expressed his disappointment of its slow progress which risks not meeting its time frame of March 2023 to June 2025.

“I am really not impressed because they have not started crushing quarry for the main works as they say that they have not found the right material stone; besides that the designs are not ready.

“I think it’s time they started working 24 hours in shifts for them to catch up on lost time because we are not going to entertain unnecessary time extensions,” Hara said.

Ciaran Paul of RSK Consultants for CHICO Contractors who are working on the project, said they have almost completed camp construction and diversion works up to 22km which will soon be opened for traffic for trial.

He, however, said they are facing challenges such as unavailability of a fully functional laboratory and shortage of skilled labour, among others but added that they are doing everything to overcome the challenges.

The rehabilitation works of the M1 started from Lilongwe-Kasungu-Jenda-Mzimba and Kacheche-Chiweta, which were awarded to 4 construction contractors.

The rehabilitation works started in June last year from the junction to Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) up to Kasungu Boma awarded to China Jiangxi International together with Jiangxi Transport Ltd.

Portuguese contractor, Mota Engil was awarded the stretch from Kasungu Boma up to Jenda — the border between the Central and Northern Regions.

Unik Constuction Engineering (Pty) Ltd took up from Jenda up to Mzimba Boma Turn Off while China Henan International Co. Ltd’s stretch is from Kacheche to Chiweta.

These stretches are in very bad shape especially the Kacheche to Chiweta, that most times renders impassable when trucks breakdown.

The Lilongwe to Kasungu stretch is also a nightmare for motorists — more especially at night as was riddled with potholes and that its edges crumbled off rendering it to be narrower even for small vehicles to pass each other.

The country’s road network construction and rehabilitation has always been factored in almost each annual National Budget but fail to get off the ground.

The Roads Fund Administration (RFA) has since built two toll gates along the Blantyre-Lilongwe M1 Road — at Chingeni in Balaka and at Kalinyeke in Dedza — from whose fees collected should help to improve the road conditions in the country.

RFA also has plans for three more toll gates to be constructed in the Central and Northern regions targeting Jenda, Mchinji and Salima.

RFA spokesperson, Masauko Ngwaluko told the media last year that funds for the construction of the three toll gates were already available and that equipment was bought last year and he also disclosed that they are plans to construct 20 toll gates on some of the major roads in the country.

The Chingeni Toll Plaza in Balaka was the first to be opened in October last year while the Kalinyeke in Dedza was rolled out in December.

The existence of the toll gates prompted Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA) to request government to consider reviewing the Road Levy that is factored on fuel prices — arguing that if removed could lead to low prices of fuel.

CAMA argued that the Road Levy was introduced some years back to assist in the construction and rehabilitation of the country’s roads and at a time when systems and mechanisms were not established within relevant institutions.

CAMA Executive Director, John Kapito had argued that “now that we have a full Road Regulatory Authority — specific for road construction and rehabilitation — it is important to transfer such a tax to this appropriate authority bearing in mind that the Road Authority has just introduced the Toll Gate Tax — whose purpose is similar to that of the Road Levy and it is unfair to punish Consumers with double taxation for the same type of service or product”.

Thus Kapito maintained that if the levies — that include Malawi Rural Electrification (MAREP), Malawi Bureau of Standards CESS — are removed, the current prices of the petroleum products at the fuel pump can reduce. —Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express