Compensations delay construction of Lilongwe-Kasiya Road

Government is in the process of trying to compensate people along the Lilongwe Old Airport-Kwanyanda- Santhe and Kasiya Road, Minister of Transport and Public Works, Francis Kasaila has said.
He made the remarks when he inspected the K39.7 billion road last week, Thursday. Compensations for the first 16 kilometres of the road amount to about K107 million.

“We cannot start construction of the road unless compensations have been paid. We are going to engage Treasury and we know they are ready because all the paper work has been done. This is the right time to get construction started so that people see us as being serious with the project,” he said.
He was inspecting the road after visiting the Central Materials Laboratory and the Lilongwe bus terminal.
Mota-Engil production manager, Emmanuel Chimtengo said construction of the road was expected to have commenced by Thursday last week. The company has since mobilised equipment and set up two camps at Lilongwe Old Airport and Kasiya.
Royal Associates Consulting Engineers regional director, Boniface Kirigia, said construction of the road would unlock major agricultural and economic potential in Lilongwe, Mchinji and Kasungu Districts.
The road, according to Roads Authority chief executive officer, Trevor Hiwa, would be constructed from gravel standard to class one bitumen standard.
Mota-Engil public relations and media consultant, Thomas Chafunya, said on Monday that the company is ready to start construction.