Lilongwe City Council irks Nankhumwa

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa says he is disappointed with the Lilongwe City Council for delaying to propose a date when the ground breaking ceremony for township roads will be take place.

In November last year, government allocated billions of kwachas for the construction of roads in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu.

Lilongwe and Blantyre were allocated K1.8 billion (about $2.4million) each, Zomba K1 billion (about $1.4million) and Mzuzu K1.4 billion (about $1.9million).

So far ground breaking ceremonies have already taken place in Blantyre, Zomba and Mzuzu.

Speaking in an interview in Lilongwe on Wednesday Nankhumwa said he was bitter because by now he should have been informed on when the ground breaking ceremony would take place.

However, Lilongwe City Council spokesperson Tamara Chafunya said they are waiting for their consultant to complete some works before the launch.

Said Nankhumwa: ”Government did its part by allocating money to the councils and yet Lilongwe is yet to give me the date when the ground breaking ceremony will be take place. My fear is that if they delay further government might take back the money because it will be balancing its books soon. We need this project because most roads in the city are in bad shape and people are not happy.”

But Chafunya in a separate interview on Thursday said the launch will be done soon after the consultant has presented his report to the council meeting.

“The launch will be done soon and we are eager that the project should start because once completed it will transform the outlook of the city and ease mobility of the residents,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chigoneka Ward councillor Desmond Bikoko told The Nation on Thursday that councilors have formed a task force to safeguard the resources to make sure that they are not abused. n