Government will soon be awarding 30 percent of construction works to local contractors, thanks to a new policy that is being spearheaded jointly by the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and National Construction Industrial Council (NCIC).
Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila said this in Mangochi on Friday on the sidelines of the Malawi Institution of Engineers (MIE) Annual Conference.
There has been an outcry from local contractors regarding government’s decision to be awarding contracts to foreign contractors when Malawi has construction companies with required expertise and capacity.
Said Kasaila: “My ministry is working hand in hand with NCIC on the new policy framework and once we are done, I can assure you that Malawian contractors will be having a share of 30 percent of contracts that government will be awarding in the construction industry,” he said.
He said government is aware of the concerns from the industry on the contracts but “what we need to know is that some major contracts are done with finance from donors who have their conditions on the contractors they want to work on such projects”.
Kasaila said the new policy will allow Malawian contractors to build the much-needed capacity through which they can be able to start handling major projects on their own.
He also revealed that the rehabilitation of Liwonde-Machinga Road will start in the next two months once government has identified a contractor for the project.
The road is part of the Nacala Corridor Development Project, which aims to ease transportation of goods from Malawi and Zambia to the deep sea port of Nacala in Mozambique.
Immediate past president of MIE, Andrew Thawe, said it is discouraging to note that government continues to be awarding major projects to foreigners despite having locals who can do the job.
“This is a setback to the industry. If our own government can do this to us, how do you expect us to grow and go out there and have other foreign countries give us the contracts?” he queried.
At the end of the conference, David Mzandu, who owns David Consulting, was elected as the new president of MIE.
