Poly unveils expansion plans

The Polytechnic, a constituent college of the University of Malawi, says due to lack of space, its next expansion plans are constructing additional floors to existing structures.

College principal Professor Grant Kululanga said this on Wednesday after touring the ongoing construction work of the skills development project at the institution.

He was accompanied by director of higher education in Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Samson Macjessie-Mbewe and others.

“The demand for our services continues to grow, so like the need to expand our structures, but space remains a challenge. We are happy that we have a new structure, the skills development project under construction, which will allow us to construct additional floors upon its completion,” said Kululanga.

Macjessie-Mbewe said the contractor is behind schedule due to heavy rains that have fallen over the past three months and scarcity of cement. He, however, said measures have been put in place to ensure the project meets the deadline.

“Poor supply of cement on the local market forced the contractor to import and the process is always slow. I am informed there is now enough local supply. To catch up, the contractor is working on double shifts and we are optimistic, they will meet the June 2019 deadline,” he said.

The skills development project is a Malawi government initiative funded by the World Bank to the tune of K3.4 billion. n