M5 closed, traffic re-routed

Heavy rains caused severe damage to the M5, which has become impassable between Nkhotakota and Salima, forcing the Roads Authority (RA) to close it to motorists.

RA spokesperson Portia Kajanga said on Friday that the road has been cut off at Lingadzi Bridge, 29 kilometres (km) from Kaphatenga and 73km from Nkhotakota, after the bridge’s banks were washed away.

Said Kajanga: “The closure is due to heavy rains the area has been receiving, which have scoured the bridge banks and the northern approach of the bridge has been completely washed away.”

She has since advised motorists to use an alternative road at Chikwawa Trading Centre, which connects with the M5 at Thavite in Salima.

She has assured motorists that a contractor is on the ground, working on the road so that it becomes passable soon. Kajanga hopes the work will be done within seven days.

A visit to the site on Friday established that vehicles were not allowed to cross the bridge while the contractor was offloading construction materials.

Almost every rainy season the M5 faces closure as it becomes severely damaged and impassable.

When asked, Salima Town Council director of public works William Kulapani said the decision to close the road was taken to allow the contractor to work smoothly.

“The damage is huge. So, to allow the contractor to do the job thoroughly, there was need to close the road temporarily,” he said.

Sikayenera Banda, who operates a minibus between Nkhotakota and Salima, said the perennial wash-aways of the road negatively impacts on their business.

Meanwhile, government has contracted Mota-Engil to rehabilitate the road whereby a 20-kilometre stretch—from Nkhotakota Boma to Bua River—has been earmarked for maintenance in the first phase.