Chingale Road gets donor nod
Government says it has finally got a nod from the Kuwait Fund to start construction works of the Lirangwe-Chingale-Machinga Road which were stopped following alleged flouting of procurement procedures.
Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila, in an interview on Monday, said the donor, at a meeting held recently in Lilongwe, gave government the go ahead to start construction of the road.
“As it is now, we will go ahead to tender documentation in order to identify a contractor as soon as possible for the construction works to start very soon,” said Kasaila.
He said the two parties also discussed the way forward on two other major roads construction projects which government terminated due to what Capital Hill claimed was the contractor’s breach of obligations.
The minister said the two contracts, which involve Thyolo-Makwasa-Thekerani-Muona Road expected to connect Thyolo Highlands to the agriculture-rich Shire River’s East bank in Nsanje and Zomba-Jali-Phalombe-Chitakale Road set to provide better accessibility to the Phalombe plain and surrounding areas, are still terminated and government is waiting to hear from the donors on the way forward once they provide them with a report.
He said government could not agree with the contractor, Kuwait-based MA Kharafi &Sons, as it still wanted to remain on site but the ministry maintained its stand that the contract is cancelled.
According to Kasaila, another road project that was discussed at the meeting is the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the 25-kilometre Liwonde-Naminga Road which is also being financed by the Kuwait Fund.
