Minister Jappie justifies K6.6bn for Parliament Roundabout- Bingu Stadium dual carriageway
Minister of Transport and Public Works Jappie Mhango has justified that the K6.6 billion to be spent on the Area 49-Area 18 to Parliament Roundabout road is a result of a scope of work that will be carried out.
Speaking at at Bingu National stadium open ground on Tuesday during the ground breaking ceremony for the upgrading to dual carriageway , Mhango said he heard about concerns some Malawians have raised regarding the amount of taxpayers’ money to be spent on the 4-kilometer dual carriage road.
But he said the upgrading of the road would ease the congestion of traffic the city is experiencing due to increase in volume of motor vehicles that are plying the road.
“We believe the upgrading of the roads will enable traffic users have a more moving space when coming or going to city centre from various locations of the city,” the Minister observed.
He said the road has been designed to incorporate modern safety features such as separation of motorized and non-motorized traffic.
“The upgrading of the road will improve safety of road users and reduce travel time motorist were enduring by using the road particularly during pick hours,” the Minister noted.
Mhango said government plans to expand the road network within the city and make sure issues of congestion by motorists are drastically reduced.
He said there were several roads within the city which needed to be upgraded to dual carriageways saying government is in the process of sourcing funds to implement such projects.
The Minister urged the contractor to work within the specified time frame of 12 months and operate within the budget.
Vice chair of the Road Fund Administration Mathews Chikankheni said the project opens a new chapter of road funding for his organization.
He said this was the first time his organization has managed to provide road fund bond for its implementation.
“The innovation of using bonds to fund such projects would enable us have frequent maintenance intervention of the road,” Chikankheni explained.
Minister of local government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa, and Minister of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Anna Kachikho, Mayor of Lilongwe City and Desmond Bikoko were among top officials that graced the occasion.
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While I might commend the govt for such project, I feel there was lack of consultation on which road is first needed to be expanded to ease congestion. My observation is that the whole city of LLW roads needs expansion. The priority would have been the stretch of M1 road from Old Town hall to somewhere after Kanengo/MIM Campus as this is the main road from where various vehicles branches to various areas/locations.
Lets also note that zimangovuta ndi ndalama. But I hope these developments continue. For once, I have read comments that are apolitical on this forum, great, we are sobering up Malawians
I don’t have a problem with govt coughing out K1.65bn/km for a road leading to Bingu stadium but my problem is the choice of the road. The congestion they want to ease is it that of the football teams and officials moving between City Centre hotels and Bingu Stadium or that of thousands of ordinary fans. I don’t know if town planners were consulted but if they were they would have known the road in question only serves the affluent suburbs of Areas 9 – 18, city centre and capital hill. The road critical for easing congestion on match days… Read more »
Traffic congestion is mostly caused because of the road leading to Bwandilo. If nothing is done on that road, then we will be back to square one, maybe even worse as the dual carriageway may falsely attract more traffic and cause additional congestion