Traditional Authority Tsabango has praised the Chakwera-led government for its commitment in fulfilling their campaign promises in Area 24 and surrounding areas
He was speaking on Sunday during Area Development Committee meeting whose purpose was discussing the progress of the Penyenye – Ngwenya road construction as monitored over the past two months.
Tsabango said he never expected that any of the mentioned development activities would come to pass in the area.
“Ngwenya road construction is a manifestation of how serious government is on promises. When this road was mentioned in the 2020/2021 budget many of us did not take it seriously considering the fact that in the previous regimes we have equally been promised of projects but it never happened. We should therefore thank the Chakwera administration for taking promises seriously,” said Tsabango.
The road will run from Penyenye past Area 22B to Ngwenya market, then it will connect to M1 via the road that goes past the dumping site at area 38.
In an interview, Lilongwe City South West legislator, Nancy Tembo, said that she will remain steadfast to ensure that the robust specifications of the design for the road that the contractor was given is delivered in accordance.
She emphasized the importance of the road in opening up new routes that will connect townships and peri-urban areas.
“The project will be economically effective as it will significantly help to ease congestion on the M1 road as motorist going to area 23, Kawale, Biwi and City Centre will now be diverting at Bunda roundabout through the Area 38 dumpsite.”
“The 3.5 billion Kwacha government is spending on this project is a lot of money as such I expect a road with longer life. People have raised concerns previously about similar developments in which contractors have handed over an output looking different from what was expected. It is one thing to give a contractor the specification but if there is no supervision the contractor may take liberty to cut corners and in the end we are given shoddy roads” Tembo said.
In a written response the Lilongwe City Council public relations officer, Tamara Chafunya, said that the K3 billion worth road is on a 7.8 kilometre stretch and is expected to complete in seven months from the time of launch.
“It is estimated that in seven months the contractor will hand over the final deliverable. The city council expects a road with asphalt surface with crusher run base and a gravel subbase as per the specifications the construction company agreed to deliver,” she said.
The road is being constructed by Meshozi/FNC with funding from the Malawi government.