Minister Nankhumwa rejects reports of poor roads construction in Mzuzu

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kondwani Nankhumwa has dismissed recent media reports that it constructed poor quality roads in the city of Mzuzu during Phase One of the Urban Roads Rehabilitation Programme which also targeted cities of Blantyre, Mzuzu and Zomba.

Nankhumwa dismissed the assertions on Tuesday in an interview as Phase Two of the program is taking off the ground.

He said roads constructed in Mzuzu are of better quality than those that were constructed in Blantyre, Zomba and Lilongwe.

However, the minister pointed out that the Chiputula-Mzuzu Airport road which the media branded as of poor quality because of the cracks it has developed, was in that state due to the stream that passes under the road, not poor quality.

“I can say it here without fear of any contradiction, roads that were constructed in Mzuzu during Phase One of the project were of good quality. The only road that has already has developed some cracks in Mzuzu was constructed on a stream and the contractor had no choice,” said the minister.

He then assured the people in the country that government will continue constructing good quality roads in all the four cities of the country.

The Local Government Minister also disclosed that government has increased allocation of funds in the 2017/18 Budget towards urban road rehabilitation in the country’s four cities, which he said was an indication of government`s commitment in getting rid of dusty roads in cities.

In his comments, Chibanja Ward Councillor Charles Mlogera whose area will benefit from Phase Two of the programme, hailed government’s idea of rehabilitating city roads to bitumen standard.

“This is brilliant idea, for it will not only make our cities look beautiful, but also increase revenue in our cities,” observed Mlogera.

Government, through Mzuzu City Council, will in Phase Two, construct Chibanja-Sungabana and Bishop-Mchengautuwa roads to the tune of MK1.5 billion. The amount has increased from MK1.2 billion that the council was allocated in Phase One.

The rehabilitation of roads in cities across the country is a brain child of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Government under President Arthur Peter Mutharika whose aim is to do away with all dusty roads in the cities.

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