M1 rehabilitation costs balloon
Rehabilitation of the 301-kilometre (km) M1 section from Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) junction in Lilongwe to Chiweta in Rumphi is projected to cost more than the initial K118 billion, it has emerged.
While cost adjustments for the first lot from KIA to Kasungu, second lot from Kasungu to Jenda in Mzimba and fourth lot in Rumphi remain unknown, the contractor for Lot three from Jenda to Mzimba turn-off has confirmed that the cost has jumped from 11.5 million euros to 22 million euros.
But Ministry of Transport and Public Works has defended the adjustments, saying the designs changed from just putting an overlay to construction of a new road altogether as well as coming up with climbing lanes.
Lot one, which covers 102 kilometres, has a project period of 30 months while Lot two, an 85.5km section, is for 18 months. Lot three, spanning over 46.7km, is expected to be done in 15 months and Lot four covering 66. 5km from Kacheche to Chiweta is for 24 months.
In an interview after Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara inspected the project site yesterday, Unik Construction Company site engineer Sean Gibson said the project period will extend to August 2025 from March that year.
He said: “The project is going to extend to August 2025, we have plans to accelerate the project. But the crack of this project is the asphalt plant and production of the crush stone base and the single size concete stone.”
Gibson said they have 70 000 cubes of stones but need 170 000 cubes for the whole road and will be doing night shifts to catch up on production of the crushstone base.
But Hara, while remaining mum on the actual figures following the adjustments, confirmed that the costs have gone up and new figures will be known later because some contractors like for Lot 4, are yet to finish coming up with new designs for the road.
He said: “Cost adjustments are inevitable because there are things that we also requested for. I had requsted for climbing lanes. Like in Chiweta, once you have a truck ahead of you, there is no safe space; hence, the climbing lanes.
“There were some delays and that comes with a cost. We are happy to pay for such. We can’t know how much at this point because the design review is still in progress for Lot 4.”
The contractor for Lot 4, China Henan, has not started crushing for the base because they are yet to find the right stone to blast and finish the designs, causing worry on what will happen during the rainy season, especially in Chiweta.
In November 2019, the Malawi Government and the European Union (EU) signed a financial agreement for 139 million euro as contribution towards the rehabilitation of the road. President Lazarus Chakwera launched the project on July 12 last year.
Of this initial amount, 95.5 million euro (about K95 billion) is a loan from European Investment Bank and 43.1 million euro (about K43 billion) a grant from the EU.
