Residents of Manja Township in Blantyre City are demanding a tarmac road and street lights from authorities.
In a telephone interview yesterday, a representative of the residents, George Mwawa, said they have organised a meeting on April 11 at Manja Primary School Ground to discuss the issues.
“The road has always been in a bad state and despite our push for a better road, nothing happens,” he said.
Mwawa said the road is not rehabilitated when in bad state, leaving the residents with no option but to fix it temporarily by filling potholes using their resources.
In a separate interview, one of the residents, Christopher Gama, said the road gets worse when it rains, which renders it impassable in some sections.
Another resident, Mary Mwansambo, blamed elected representatives for failure to facilitate construction of a tarmac road in the area.
When contacted yesterday, Blantyre City South legislator Noel Lipipa (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) said government through Ministry of Local Government committed to construct the road.
“Actually, the road is not in the council’s plans, but it is estimated to cost about K500 million and you cannot expect that amount to come from my pocket,” he said.
Lipipa said construction of the road was expected to start last year.
Efforts to speak to the Ministry of Local Government spokesperson Anjoya Mwanza proved futile as she could not be reached on numerous occasions.
