President Peter Mutharika yesterday warned road construction companies that his government would not pay for substandard roads.
The President said this at Chambe Primary School ground in Mulanje when he opened the K12 billion Zomba-Jali-Phalombe-Chitakale Road, which is 102 kilometres long.
Earlier in the day, the President laid a foundation stone for the construction of Muloza-Chiringa Road in Mulanje.
Speaking after opening the Zomba-Jali-Phalombe-Chitakale Road, Mutharika said he was disappointed that elsewhere in the country, some construction companies, he did not name, have delivered substandard road projects.
“I want quality roads. If contractors build below standard, I will not pay you. You are stealing from us,” the President cautioned.
He said for any nation to develop, it requires good road network, citing Germany as an example of a developed country that started with good road infrastructure.
Later, the President repeated his attack on the opposition, emphasising that his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the May 21 Tripartite Elections fair and square.
“The opposition is destroying everything I am putting up , but let me tell them I will not get tired. They are burning schools and hospitals, but whenever they do that, I will reconstruct them until they get tired,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Minister of Transport and Public Works Ralph Jooma said the road was funded to the tune of $15 840 000 (nearly K12.4 billion).
He said the nation was witnessing another dream that finally came to pass.
Jooma further said 23 roads were being constructed in the country, and 12 of them are being constructed using taxpayers’ money.
The Zomba-Jali-Phalombe-Chitakale Road starts from Zomba Air wing through trading centres of Jali, Misewu-Folo, Phalombe Boma and ends at at the foot of Mulanje Mountain, at Chitakale.
The project, co-financed by the Malawi Government and cooperating partners, namely Kuwait Fund, Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) and Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, started in 2014.
