Complete projects on time, govt told
Players in the construction industry have urged government to implement projects within timeframes, saying there are many projects that are conceptualised but take time to be completed due to lack of resources.
The remarks were raised during inspection of construction of some city roads in Mzuzu and civic offices.
The visit followed a similar exercise in the Central and Southern regions.
In Mzuzu, it emerged that contractors abandoned two roads which the team, comprising National Construction Industry Council (NCIC), Surveyors Institute and Malawi Institute of Engineers (MIE) inspected.
Following the inspections, NCIC chief executive officer Engineer Gerald Khonje said while standards of some projects are good, challenges remain with delays in payments.
He said: “Infrastructure is different from when you are procuring, for example, a shirt. You procure a completed shirt and if it’s K10 000, you pay that, you can’t get half a shirt and what is happening in these projects is that we get products.
“This results in wastage of resources. So we need to budget properly. We have developed Infrastructure Delivery Standards which are meant to be used by all stakeholders. If you are a client budgeting to do something, consult these standards.”
Khonje further said the other projects they visited in the Centre and South are going slow due to price escalations of materials, and contractors are negotiating with clients on the same.
Surveyors Institute of Malawi representative Beston Chisamile said it was important that those embarking on projects should engage qualified people that include surveyors.
“These people are able to work with integrity and achieve what is expected,” he said.
Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara could not respond to our calls to comment on the matter yesterday, saying, “it is not convenient for me to answer your call right now.”
In the 2024/25 National Budget, K20.1 billion has been allocated for construction of city roads.
Lately, there have been concerns that Constituency Development Fund (CDF) budget has been doubled from K100 million to K200 million at the expense of cuts in allocations to healthcare, education and roads.
In a letter dated January 24 2024, National Local Government Finance Committee chief executive officer Kondwani Santhe detailed how the CDF was prioritised over other services.
