Jenda-Edingeni road completition to delay – Minister

Government has confirmed that construction works of the long awaited Jenda-Edingeni road will not be completed by June this year as planned due to some technical challenges.

In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Friday, Minister of Transport, Roads Infrastructure and Public Works, Francis Kasaila said shortage of resources and proper mobilization between the government and the contractor had hampered the project.

“At first we did not have equipment in time and later we noticed some issues to do with the design of the road  plus shortage of  resources to give to the contractor thus in 2013 and it took us time to negotiate with the contractor,” Kasaila said.

“What is happening right now is that we are still having some negotiations with the contractor, when we are done we will come back to Malawians and tell them the exact time when they should expect the construction of the road to be completed, that will be very soon and I can assure the general public on that one,” he added.

Commenting on the progress of the Lumbadzi-Chezi road in Lilongwe which commenced in 2013 and was supposed to be completed by 2014 December, Kasaila said the project was stopped due to financial problems.

“The Lumbadzi-Chezi road could have been finished by now but it also succumbed to financial challenges hence its zero progression. Right now the government is trying to negotiate with the contractor so that the work on this road should recommence and we are assured that this will be done,” said the minister.

The Jenda –Edingeni road commenced on 16th December 2013 the contractor is China Rail Number 5 Group while Lumbadzi –Chezi road is being constructed by Silicone.

Roads infrastructure development is among the top priorities of the DPP government and among other roads under construction apart from Jenda-Edingeni road and Lumbadzi-Chezi road are, Zomba-Jali –Migowi road and Nkhoma-Kamphata roa