Minister issues warning to developers of road reserves
Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jappie Mhango has warned developers on road reserves would be punished from now and charged of encroachment.
Mhango issued the warning Tuesday during a ground breaking ceremony of the upgrading of the parliament roundabout to Bingu National Stadium road which will cost K6.6 billion.
He said government has been losing a lot of money in paying compensation to illegal developers along road reverses.
“From now onwards it will be the reverse of the situation, the illegal developer will have to compensate government instead of them being compensated by government as the case has been,” the minister noted.
He challenged: “The honeymoon is now over. We need to act on this tendency of encroaching road reserve in the country. Those that will be found encroaching road reserves will face the long arm of the law.”
Mhango said this was why his ministry was taking a tough stand on all illegal developers along road reserves noting the malpractice needed to be stopped.
The Minister appealed to contractors engaged in road construction in the country to strive for excellence when executing government projects.
He said a contractor who would construct a sub-standard road would automatically lose business with government, right away.
“We are urging all contractors to adhere to contract agreements to produce quality products, deliver within the time frame of the project and work within the budget,” Mhango said.
He said government would no longer entertain extension and additional funding to such project saying this was affecting the execution of most road projects in the country.
Mhango pointed out his Ministry is committed to ensuring the service delivery by contractors are up-to- date and that timely completion of any project is of great importance.
“We will not condone any substandard projects to be implemented in the country and contractors need to guard against this always,” he added.
The new road project is excepted to be completed by October 4, 2018 and Road Fund Administration has provided the funding through a loan from NBS.
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I’m glad Jappie Mhango is not a lhomwe, that name sounds like a Tumbuka. Ndiye ena nkumati maudindo onse aboma adzadza ndi alhomwe? panyini pamanu ndithu. Chakwera iwenso ukusocheretsa anthu nanyongo wamako.
That’s the way to go. We can have good infrastructure if we start adhering to our laws and further strict adherence to set top standards when executing such projects