Malawi science university constructs labs, houses
Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) last week received three new laboratories and six staff houses from Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) and Blithe Construction, the two contractors who built the structures.
Speaking after the hand-over ceremony which took place at the university in Thyolo, Must council chairperson Andrew Daudi said the houses and laboratories are critical structures for the institution.
Must was opened without its own laboratories despite offering numerous laboratory dependent courses.
Daudi said the six houses will accommodate critical staff in areas of security, health and transport to enable them efficiently respond to students’ emergency needs. All staff currently reside in Blantyre as Must has no staff houses.
Said Daudi: “A university with boarding facilities like ours needs drivers, a nursing sister, security personnel and other such critical staff to reside on campus to ably respond to emergencies.”
Daudi also said Must’s pioneer students were using laboratories at University of Malawi (Unima) constituent colleges, the Polytechnic in Blantyre and Chancellor College (Chanco) in Zomba.
He said the arrangement was an inconvenience to both Must and Unima as the latter’s constituent colleges had to alter their programmes to accommodate Must’s students.
The laboratories, built by Blithe Construction, cost K239 million while the houses which were constructed by MHC cost K150 million.
