Lilongwe City deputy mayor Kwame Bandawe on Monday applauded one of the country’s tobacco buyers, Japan Tobacco International, JTI Malawi, for rehabilitating one of the strategic roads in Kanengo.
According to Bandawe, by investing in infrastructure, JTI has underlined its commitment to partnering Malawi in the socio-economic development of the country.
He said: “The support that we, as Lilongwe City Council [LCC] have received in this endeavour is so colossal we do not take it for granted. We would like to thank JTI for taking the initiative to maintain this road and it is my plea to other companies to borrow a leaf from JTI and partner the council in improving the city’s infrastructure.”
Speaking when he handed over the road to Lilongwe City Council, JTI Malawi managing director Fries Vanneste said his company spent about K52 million to rehabilitate the road. He said his company invested in the rehabilitation of the road to facilitate its business as well as to enhance safety requirements. Vanneste said due to its sorry state, the road was slippery during raining season and not conducive for heavy duty trucks that ply the road on daily basis.
Speaking earlier, Tobacco Control Commission(TCC) chief executive officer Bruce Munthali said JTI was going an extra mile in ensuring that Malawi has good infrastructure, especially a good road network.
