Fresh deadline extension for Lilongwe road projects

The Roads Authority (RA) has extended the completion dates of the K19 billion six-lane Kenyatta Road and the K9.8 billion dual carriageway Mzimba Street in Lilongwe following contractors’ failure to catch up with an earlier extension.

This is the second time RA has extended the deadline for the projects.

RA spokesperson Portia Kajanga confirmed the change on Tuesday when Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara inspected the two roads and other projects.

The Kenyatta Road, an 18 months 4.2-kilometre project which started on September 15 2021, was earlier set to be completed by March 14 2023, but had its deadline revised to January 31 2024. It has a 51 percent progress against 93 percent of time that has elapsed.

On the other hand, Mzimba Street a 12-month 3.9 kilometre project which started on April 1 2022 and was supposed to be completed by April 1 2023, but had the completion date revised to October 15 2023. However, it has only recorded a 45 percent physical progress against 108 percent time that has elapsed.

The delays on the two projects have forced contractors to ask for further extension of time which the Roads Authority has granted, further extending the deadline to July 31 2024.

Hara, who backed the extension of time, expressed disappointment with continued delays on the Kenyatta and Mzimba road projects.

He said the contractors should have done much better, adding escalation of prices for commodities should not be excuses for such delays.

Said the minister: “I am not impressed, generally, with the progress of these roads. These roads have been delayed. We shouldn’t have been here by now. I have heard different stories, different excuses the whole time but I am not impressed.”

Hara has since called on the contractors to expedite works and complete the projects within the extended time without compromising on quality.

However, he said government understands the impact of devaluation on the projects, and engineers will look into the issues to see if there are elements that can change.

Besides the two roads, the minister also toured the Dzaleka-Ntchisi-Malomo Road, where he also expressed disappointment with the slow progress of the road.

The Dzaleka-Ntchisi-Malomo Road is a 24-months project which started on January 3, 2023 but has only recorded a six percent progress rate against 47.6 percent time that has elapsed. The 60-km road is supposed to be completed on December 22 2024.

Hara observed that the road is facing challenges due to issues of capacity of contractors, but said the government is trying to empower local contractors to take big contracts.

Consultant for the Kenyatta Road and Mzimba Street projects Engineer Paul Kulemeka said there are many factors that have contributed to the two projects’ delay.

However he said the contractors have been advised to revisit the works plan and he hoped that will help push the works.

Meanwhile, Lilongwe City Centre legislator Alfred Jiya expressed worry over the continued delays, saying July 2024 is such a long period.

There are 28 road projects worth about K439.8 billion affected and there were fears that taxpayers will pay more due to cost overruns as a result of delays in the projects.