The Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) has rejected a Roads Authority (RA) submission to award a contract for the construction of Rumphi-Nyika Road to Plem Construction.
In an interview yesterday, PPDA director general Eddington Chilapondwa confirmed that the authority has not granted a no-objection, saying RA did not apply preferential treatment for indigenous contractors.
He said the PPDA has since advised RA to re-evaluate the bids and resubmit.
“It is something that they can look into within a day and resubmit. It is up to them to re- evaluate and submit but is a minor issue,” said Chilapondwa.
The preferential treatment is provided for under Section 44 (10) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) Act, and compels procuring and disposing entities to award 60 percent of all contracts under the National Competitive Bidding to indigenous black Malawians and the remaining 40 percent to others.
Awarding of contracts are also to follow a 20 percent preference for a local Malawian when a Malawian is competing with a foreigner. This means that if the bid from a Malawian contractor is 20 percent higher than for a foreign contractor, the contract is supposed to be awarded to a local contractor.
In a written response, RA board chairpeson Matilda Matabwa said RA is working on some matters as regards the Rumphi-Nyika Road and hence could not provide more information.
She said briefly: “The information requested will be made available once those matters are concluded.
“However, be assured that this project will be implemented and completed.”
When contacted, Minister of Transport Jacob Hara said he needed more time to cross-check the facts of the matter.
In an interview yesterday, Rumphi West member of Parliament Yona Mkandawire, in whose area the road project falls, expressed concern that any further delays will worsen challenges for people living along the Rumphi-Nyika-Chitipa Road and surrounding areas.
He said already, healthcare referrals to the district hospital are facing unnecessary delays due to the poor state of the road.
Said Mkandawire: “We have been experiencing cases of maternal and other deaths as it takes time to get to Rumphi District Hospital for medical attention.
“Today, we have lost a woman and a baby because the woman delayed to reach the hospital.Last week, we also had a case of a man who died on the way to the hospital. The road is bad and it takes time to get to the hospital.”
He wondered why the PPDA was citing issues of preference when the same contractor, PLEM Construction, is working on several huge projects, including roads in Mzuzu.
“We are Malawians too and we need better services. RA first identified China Rail No 20 but PPDA said it had many projects. Now they are saying PLEM is not owned by an indigenous Malawian. It is very sad that we are being treated this way.
“The budget allocation for the road has also been reduced from K5 billion to K3.4 billion and you wonder if really we will have this road,” said the MP.
In July 2018, former president Peter Mutharika launched construction of the the 241 kilometres Rumphi-Nyika Road.
The road, funded by government, was to be constructed in phases with each phase covering 20 kilometres.
The contract was initially awarded to Mota Engil. However, after the Tonse Alliance took over government in 2020, the contract with Mota Engil was terminated on the basis that construction firm was overwhelmed by other projects.
The project was later awarded to a Chinese company Unik Construction Ltd, which later dumped the project, forcing government to retender the works.
