Bridge construction misses deadline

The construction of three box culverts on Lwazi Stream at Enukweni on the M1 in Mzimba District has missed its deadline because the contractor has cash flow problems, among other reasons.

The K2 billion project started on October 11 last year and wasscheduled to be completed on February 10 this year.

The contractor, Fargo Limited, has since applied for an extension of time up to April to finish the project.

In a project brief for the construction of bridges, Roads Authority(RA) has said the contractor has done 57.5 percent of the works.

“The contractor is extremely behind schedule and has filed an application for extension of time which is being adjudicated by the Roads Authority,” reads the brief in part.

The authority further says the contractor faced challenges that included adverse ground conditions and erosion of the diversion in January this year which forced the suspension of operations on the box culverts to concentrate on restoring the functionality of the diversion.

Reads the statement: “Since commencement of the works, the contractor has struggled to maintain a healthy cashflow on the project as evidenced by the erratic supply of key input materials.”

But when Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara toured the construction site, he said government shares the blame for awarding a ‘no  

 objection’ for the contractor to be on site in the rainy season.

He said: “I can’t blame the contractor and the consultants for missing their deadlines because they are doing their level best to complete the works.

“The problem was with us as government machinery because it took us too long to award a ‘no objection’ for the contractor to come on site.”