Nkhata Bay chief hails construction firm

Traditional Authority (T/A) Timbiri of Nkhata Bay has hailed Strabag International of Germany, the company which is constructing the 47-kilomtere Mzuzu-Nkhata Bay Road.

Speaking during Martyr’s Day commemorations at Chirundu Point ground in Nkhata Bay, Timbiri said the company is constructing a durable road, urging other construction companies to emulate the example.

He said: “We want to thank government for the many development projects given to us. We have a new market, new hospital, and a new road is being constructed by Strabag. This company knows its job very well.

“We have other companies that do not complete their work because they steal money. So in the middle of the work, you find that they leave or delay the work. But Strabag is different, they really know their work.”

Initial designs of the project indicated that the road was supposed to start from Shoprite Roundabout in Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay Port.

The designs also showed that a one-kilometre section from Shoprite to High Court House in Mzuzu would have a modern dual carriage with four lanes.

However, government recently said it had reduced the works by a kilometre, meaning that the city will not have a modern dual carriage as earlier planned.

Roads Authority (RA) chief executive officer Emmanuel Matapa confirmed that rehabilitation works for the one-kilometre dual carriage have been scrapped off from the project which is being done with K16.7 billion funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).n