Beware of Cashgate in road construction
Last month Lilongwe and Blantyre city councils received a boost of K1.8 billion to tarmac their roads. This is obviously a good development. It will reduce the number of dusty streets in our shanty compounds which contribute to respiratory diseases in summer and are muddy and impassable in the rainy season. The rehabilitation of these roads will go a long away in making travelling comfortable, smooth and fast.
However, city councils should ensure that the money is put to good use. Government has been losing a lot of money to road contractors. It is a common practice for contractors to overprice their goods and services. Incidentally, part of the money (for the other layer of the road) has found its way back to officials and politicians through bribery.
Rather than allow contractors to dictate the terms, city councils should do it. They should estimate how much each road costs per kilometre and allow contractors a reasonable mark up. All these roads have short distances. They should not cost much. The councils should guard against losing money in this way.
Another major concern is that some road contractors do not have capacity to construct quality roads. They do not have proper equipment and lack civil engineering skills. A visit to Lilongwe, Blantyre or Mzuzu reveals that some roads constructed a few years ago have already developed “swimming pools”. Yet the contractors were paid a lot of money for poor work and you wonder how officials could justify the cost. A road is meant to last many years. Quality is one element that councils should emphasise on. Before payment is made, there should be physical inspection of the road by a team of relevant stakeholders, not just one person. Payment should only be made when they are satisfied that the work has successfully been completed. We know that contractors have been conniving with officials at various levels to get contracts through bribery. There is need to put a stop to this tendency if the country is to move forward.
One lesson that should be learnt from Cashgate is that those who handle contracts cannot be trusted. We have seen how high ranking officials in government sanctioned payments for goods that were not delivered. One cannot understand how government could pay companies for goods that were not supplied. What happened to the control system? It is important that city councils should put in place measures to ensure that only deserving contractors are awarded contracts.
There should be checks and balances in awarding contracts. For example, no contract should be awarded without bidding and incompetent contractors should be given any work. Contractors with criminal records should not be allowed to bid for projects. The Anti-Corruption Bureau should be involved in scrutinising bids.
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Bwana Noel Mp Machinjiri pliz consider the Khama area 9 ring road to seventh church ,pliz chonde
Goroso, u seem to be the one misleading the pipo. Many of these contractors are briefcase. They don’t have proper equipment to do a job (not even an office) As a result, they do shoddy a poor job. Look at the quality of work. A well constructed road is supposed to more than 10 years before u thnk of maintanance. Our roads have a life span of two to five years. But if u look @ the money they charge govt.are paid it’s too much. Is that not overpricing? Engineers are part of the problem. Their estimates are unrealistic most… Read more »
If Jesus comes today many will lose their heavenly throne cause of greed for cash.repent before time flies.
there seems to be some sense in this story we have here. However, it also shows that as a journalist you did not do a proper research. There are a few flaws I would like you to clarify to us: what do you think qualifies a contractor to be awarded a contract? Have you ever tried to do pricing for a certain advertised tender?, If you have done this before, what factors were you considering to come up with the prices for your tender?, What do you mean when you say overpricing and what are you basing your argument at?,… Read more »
lilongwe city mayor and your crue plz pay a visit to blantyre city and see for yourself wat chalamanda is doing in beautifying the city..blantyr is clean and he is decorating it to high standard..now in ur case..go to stretch from lilongwe bridge to bwalolanjobvu an appreciate how nusty the city is..ur are here and BEAM headquarters is here! plz do something we also need zinthu zabwino ndi zamakono..after 50yrs of independence but having same structures and same face of lilongwe city??
red star campaign kunonso ikufunika ndi miseu yomwe..ngati simumva izi u all deserve evictions ife tatopa..
Bingu took a lot of credit for Chitipa-Karonga road. His surviving henchmen should explain why the road looks like this just a few years after.
They make a living by potholes.If potholes doesn’t develop on roads then they won’t have bread and butter on their table..Mediocrity is everywhere in Malawi.Malawians are not patriots and do not love their country instead they love easy money.Dusty roads are all over Malawi.Our cities do not even befit the modern city standard.The roads are so tiny.We have unnecessary congestions like we own the largest number of cars in the world.Shame for Malawi.
Finally Kittermaster road in BCA will be repaired. Your Worship the Mayor please look into it and kindly repair this deteriorated road.
We pay over the top for poorly tarring eaxh kilometer of road. The difference goes to the kabal which award the contracts and authorise payments.
Don’t think these guys are Fools. They have vision. They know that a few years down the line these roads will need to be repaired every few months, patch upon patch upon patch.
A steady flow of income is thus guaranteed.
That’s why we allow truckers to establish their bases in residential areas. Thirty tonne monsters accelerate the deterioration of roads that are meant for light vehicles.
Add a guarantee clause in the contracts. If the condition of the road changes over a given ‘timeframe’, the contractor shall be responsible for fixing it.