Fuel scarcity stalls projects

 Fuel scarcity in the past two months has ground to a halt some major road projects in the country valued at K150 billion, stirring panic among contractors who fear for cost overruns.

Roads Authority (RA) yesterday acknowledged the problem and said they were asking contractors to import fuel on their own to keep projects going.

Some contractors The Nation interviewed yesterday shared RA’s concern that the persistent erratic fuel supply will negatively affect project implementation.

RA spokesperson Portia Kajanga said the fuel scarcity, worsened by shortage of foreign exchange in the country, could have some serious cost implications in the long-term.

She said: “Contractors are not able to refuel heavy equipment for road construction. Contractors are unable to transport procured road construction materials to the construction site. Contractors are not able to refuel project supervision vehicles.

“In summary, there is little or no activity

 so most of the equipment remains idle, which in most cases, also attracts extra charges.” on road construction sites

On interventions from their part to improve the situation, Kajanga said the fuel shortage is beyond RA’s domain and that, like others, they pray for improved supply of the commodity.

“However, the Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority does accept applications by the public to directly import fuel. We are encouraging our contractors who can manage, to attempt importation of fuel,” she said.

 According to Kajanga, some of the contractors need about 4 000 litres of diesel per day.

Portuguese multi-disciplinary conglomerate Mota-Engil Malawi, one of the road contractors, has shut down operations at its sites due to fuel problems.

The company’s projects include expansion of Mzimba Street in Lilongwe into a six-lane highway, rehabilitation of the Kasungu-Jenda section of the M1 and construction of Likoma Jetty.

Mota-Engil Malawi public relations specialist Thomas Chafunya yesterday said they are planning to source fuel from their sister companies in neighbouring countries such as Mozambique.

He said: “We use about 4 000 litres every day to feed into the construction equipment and the other vehicles used in administering the works.

“Any slight disruption of fuel supply means that we have to slow down a little and try to recover and put more into the reserves.”

Chafunya said once supply normalises, they will find means to recover the lost time lost.

Mota-Engil is facing a race against time as the K9.8 billion works on Mzimba Street began on April 1 2022 and are expected to be completed in April 2023.

China State Construction Engineering Coop Limited, which has a $26.7 million water infrastructure project in Karonga, has asked Northern Region Water Board to consider putting the project on hold until the fuel situation is sorted.

One of the managers of the project, Tony Wong, whose firm is also building the Mzuzu University Library, said they hope the shortage will be solved soon.

“I hope Malawi can solve the issue quickly because it is sad for the contractors and the projects. It is really affecting us” he said.

Since the beginning of this year Lilongwe has been a haven of construction activities

after President Lazarus

 Chakwera launched road construction projects, including the upgrading of Kenyatta Road from Parliament Roundabout to Game Complex to a six-lane highway complete with a traffic interchange.

In July this year, the President also launched a K120 billion project to rehabilitate some sections of the M1 from Kamuzu International Airport junction to Rumphi. The works were divided among four contractors.

In a written response to our questionnaire yesterday, Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST) national coordinator Lyford Gideon described the situation as worrisome, saying only the Ministry of Energy can provide responses as to how it intends to resolve the issue.

“From our perspective, we acknowledge that fuel is an important input in the various construction projects and therefore the prevailing situation is a cause for concern,” he said.

Beyond road projects, government has construction projects across the country, including the K68 billion rehabilitation of the railway line from Marka Border in Nsanje to Bangula and construction of the jetty in Likoma.

However, contractors fear the fuel situation may lead to cost overruns due to delays in implementation of the projects