Sunday, May 29, 2022
  • About Us
  • ImagiNATION
  • Adverts
  • Rate Card
  • Contact Us
The Nation Online
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Columns
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Columns
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home News National News

Malawians protests transfer of bridge

by Johnny Kasalika
08/10/2012
in National News
3 min read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsAppShare on LinkedinLinkedinShare via Email

People in the central Malawi district of Nkhotakota are protesting government’s decision to remove materials from the Bailey bridge in the district and replace them with timber.

The development comes barely few weeks after government attracted similar protests in Dowa, another district in central Malawi, where 13 beds were transferred from Mponela Rural Hospital to Mzimba where campaign for parliamentary by-elections has been running.

In an interview on Tuesday, Traditional Authority Mwansambo, in whose area the bridge is, said his subjects are protesting the transfer of steel materials from the bridge on Livulezi River to Lifyozi Bridge on the Salima to Nkhotakota M5 Road.

“On Tuesday last week, Nkhotakota district commissioner [Charles Thombozi] told me that Roads Authority [RA] has arranged to remove steel materials from the bridge on Livulezi River and replace them with timber,” said T/A Mwansambo.

The chief said his subjects have asked government to buy new steel construction materials for the bridge it wants to fix on M5 Road.

“I met my area development committee [ADC] today [last Tuesday] over this matter. The bridge is in the area with a population of 20 000.

“Removing the bridge will also frustrate achievement of safe motherhood goals because pregnant mothers will be struggling to cross the river to go to Malowa Health Centre,” said the chief.

He said his subjects have mobilised Gule Wamkulu to guard against efforts to remove any materials from the bridge.

Thombozi on Wednesday said he had not yet received any complaint from the villagers on government’s decision to transfer steel materials from Livulezi Bridge.

Justifications

RA public relations officer Portia Kajanga on Thursday said: “It is indeed true that Roads Authority wrote Nkhotakota District Council informing them of its intention to swap the two bridges due to the following reasons:

“It costs Roads Authority over K3 million [about $10 000] every month to replace the timber planks on Lifyozi Bridge on M5 Road due to heavy traffic that uses the road while if the same bridge was placed over Livulezi River on T 341, replacement of timber planks would only be done once in a year due to the very low levels of motorised traffic,” said Kajanga.

She said, currently, it is not possible for government to buy new steel materials for the bridge on Lifyozi River due to financial constraints.

“It is very important to note that the new bridge that would be placed on Livulezi River would not be a wooden bridge. The whole bridge will be a steel bridge except the deck [the surface where vehicles ride] which will have timber planks.

“The cost of swapping both bridges is around K10 million [about $33 333]. It would, however, cost Malawi Government over K300 million [about $1 million] just to replace one bridge with a concrete-decked bridge,” said Kajanga.

In an interview on Saturday, Minister of Energy and Mining Dr. Cassim Chilumpha, who is also Member of Parliament for Nkhotakota South, said he is aware of the impending bridge materials transfer.

He, however, said much as the bridge on M5 Road needs to be fixed permanently, it is not a better option to transfer steel materials from another bridge.

Previous Post

Nomads’ stand out to bag Standard Bank Trophy

Next Post

Donors caution Malawi on gay rights

Related Posts

RBM headquarters in Lilongwe
Front Page

RBM justifies devaluation stance

May 28, 2022
Kumchulesi: Financing options are available
National News

NPC gears up to empower young entrepreneurs for MW2063 results

May 28, 2022
Bingu’s residence named Casablanca Manor 
at his Ndata Farm in Thyoo
Front Page

ACB sleeps on Bingu’s wealth investigation

May 28, 2022
Next Post
The Nation Online Donors caution Malawi on gay rights image 3

Donors caution Malawi on gay rights

Opinions and Columns

Off the Shelf

Poor timing of Aggreko decommissioning now hurting

May 28, 2022
My Diary

Corruption as an elephant

May 28, 2022
Business Unpacked

Tame egos, take risks to grow economy

May 26, 2022
People’s Tribunal

What was that press briefing all about?

May 22, 2022

Trending Stories

  • People travel on the first part of the East Bank road from Thabwa

    K14bn road fund down the drain

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ACB sleeps on Bingu’s wealth investigation

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Acb explains Sattar miss

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • RBM justifies devaluation stance

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Bullets , Silver Strikers renew rivarly

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Malawi-Music.com Top10

  • Values
  • Our Philosophy
  • Editorial policy
  • Advertising Policy
  • Code of Conduct
  • Plagiarism disclaimer
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use

© 2022 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Life & Style
    • Every Woman
      • Soul
      • Family
    • Religion
    • Feature
  • Society
  • Columns
  • Sports
  • Chichewa
  • Enation

© 2020 Nation Publications Limited. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.