People of Traditional Authority Malemia in Nsanje District have asked duty-bearers to upgrade a section that joins the Marka-Nsanje Road from Chididi.
In an interview on Tuesday, community member Mary Bello from Mpangira Village said the poor state of the road affects transportation of fertiliser, cement, lime and equipment for the construction of boreholes.
She said: “It is also taking time to construct a new bridge across Mwanalundu River to replace the one washed away six years ago.
“Again, fruit farmers fail to transport their produce to better markets because vehicles do not reach their farms. Instead, the fruits just rot in people’s farms.”
Group village head Jofilisi said the road has become a death trap.
He said: “It is dangerous to drive on the road with several sections without bridges or in dilapidated state. As a result, people pay huge transport fares to go to Nsanje Boma.
“For instance, sick people or pregnant women cough K20 000 to hire a motorbike to Nsanje District Hospital.”
The chief appealed to Roads Authority (RA) to upgrade the road to enable minibuses to operate on the road.
On his part, Nsanje South West legislator Walter Nyamilandu Manda (Independent) said he will lobby for the construction of the road despite that it falls under RA jurisdiction.
In a separate interview, RA senior public relations officer Alice Chinthochi said they will continue with routine maintenance, including hand-reshaping on the road to ease the challenges.
She said: “When funds are available, construction of concrete pads will be a better option considering the terrain of the area. This approach also applies to Marka- Lurwe Road. I am pleased that in August, we did some maintenance works on Chididi Road.
“For Mwanalundu Bridge, there are plans to construct it through the Regional Climate Resilience Programme II [RCRP-2] Project with financing from the World Bank.”
