Govt takes blame on vendors

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development  Kondwani Nankhumwa has admitted that some vendors shun new markets because they are not consulted at project planning stages.

The minister said this in Blantyre on Wednesday after inspecting the construction of the new Lunzu Market.

“Every project which government or an individual embarks on will always be prone to challenges. We have discovered that in some of these markets, government was not fully consulting the beneficiaries [vendors] of the markets,” said Nankhumwa.

He stressed the need to consult beneficiaries when designing different projects.

“Lunzu Market is a very good example where beneficiaries were consulted and were able to give their views on how they would like the market to appear.”

Blantyre North East Rural member of Parliament Cecilia Chazama (Democratic Progressive Party-DPP) commended government for the implementation of the project.

Chazama, who is also Minister of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development, attributed the success of the project to cooperation between vendors and the contractor.

“Initially, we had few issues until we had a meeting with officials from Local Development Fund [LDF]. I told them that if they leave out the people of Lunzu, there will be nothing for them because the project will just be a white elephant,” she said.

The market’s chairperson, Clemence Maovololo, appealed to government to swiftly finish the remaining phase of the project.

German Development Cooperation (Kfw) funded the first phase of the project that cost K338 million, but was implemented by LDF.

The new market will have seven market sheds, a restaurant, 32 kiosks, a slaughter house, freezer, an office, refuse bank, water borne ablution block, two pit latrines, four butcheries, tractor and trailer.

The total cost of the project is K900 million.