Transport ministry moves to improve quality of road works

Minister of Transport and Public Works Malison Ndau says plans are underway to introduce district and regional supervisors who will ensure that roads graded and upgraded are up to standard.

Ndau spoke in Parliament in Lilongwe on Friday during question time where he admitted that many road projects are sub-standard due to lack of proper supervision and guidance in the implementation phase.

Several members of Parliament (MPs) had complained that although many roads in their areas had been graded recently, they were already in a state of disrepair, meaning that government had wasted money on contractors who easily got away with shoddy work.

Dedza South West MP Clement Mlombwa (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) queried the ministry for allowing the Roads Authority (RA) to engage contractors in some districts without consulting local councils.

Ndau said his ministry is aware of the reasonable quality queries that came about from across the country recently because of a reliance on adhoc road supervision from district assemblies.

“From our experience, we are seeing that much is not being done. There is a lot of waste of resources,” he admitted, adding that the ministry has started engaging special and qualified supervisors to do the work professionally at both district and regional levels.

But he dismissed suggestions that contractors are imposed on projects and that district councils are not consulted in the process.