Some locals along the M1 in Rumphi, where rehabilitation under Lot 4 is being carried out, have moved to stop the work, blocking machinery of contractor Chicco Construction Company over compensation.
According to Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwankhunikira and group village head Katawa, local people’s houses around Chinyolo area are developing cracks due to ongoing works, hence the demand.
Lot 4 covers 66. 5 kilometres from Kacheche to Chiweta, passing through places such as Bwengu, Chinyolo, Mkombezi, Phwezi to Chiweta, but main challenges are being registered between Chinyolo and Phwezi.
Said Katawa: “We have been bringing this matter to the attention of the contractor, who told us that he would assess the situation and then report to government which is responsible for compensations. But there has been nothing to date.
“So, people are growing impatient and sometimes that’s why they decided to block their machinery. If the contractor can’t compensate people, then why not invite government to intervene so that the matter is resolved?”
Katawa said there has been no engagement with authorities so far, and during their recent meeting, the contractor was absent to update the community on the matter.
Chicco (China Henan International Cooperation Group) Construction Company project manager He Chuanfeng confirmed the development, saying people are failing to understand that it is not the company’s responsibility to pay compensation.
He said: “We don’t know how to solve the problem because it is the responsibility of the government. Compensation is done by the Roads Authority, but local people don’t know the procedure of compensation.
“Because they see delays for compensation, they think money should come from the contractor, and they block our work. It’s affecting us a lot because, for instance, if they stop 50 machines, guess how long it may take us for work which was supposed to be done in two days by those machines.”
He said the place where people are blocking is closer to the quarry site, making it difficult even for workers to get there to continue with production, which is affecting much of their work.
Meanwhile, RA chief executive officer Engineer Ammiel Champiti has admitted the problems, but said they are working around the clock to resolve it within two weeks.
He said: “It’s true that there are some people who are alleging that their houses have developed cracks due to the work that is being undertaken on the road. It has not been verified whether it is true or not.
“However, we are making the investigations and the evaluation as part of the process to establish what really happened with the houses. Currently, there are evaluators from the Ministry of Lands, and part of our team from our offices in the Northern Region and at headquarters and the DC’s office in Rumphi.”
Champiti said the team was working on the assessment of the damages and related costs for compensation.
“Obviously the assessment will not take very long, within a week or two it will be done and then payments will be arranged for the affected following establishing details of the cracks.
