Minister Kachikho warns unscrupulous suppliers in Malata-cement subsidy program

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Anna Kachikho on Wednesday warned that the ministry would deal with all crooked suppliers of substandard materials in the Malata and Cement Subsidy Program.

Kachikho: We will deal with crooked suppliers

She said the Ministry will not hesitate to name and shame any supplier who is out to cheat the beneficiaries of Malata and Cement Subsidy Program with substandard materials.

The Malata and Cement Subsidy program also known as the Decent and Affordable housing Subsidy Program (DAHSP) has served 23,192 beneficiaries with building material of which 11,120 houses are at different levels of house construction while 12,072 houses have been constructed and completed in the Malata Subsidy Program.

Kachikho said all this when she addressed the press on the progress of the implementation of the Decent and Affordable Housing (Cement and Malata) Subsidy Program in Lilongwe.

She disclosed that K20, 485,411.00 has been collected as Malata Subsidy loan repayment from selected councils so far.

She appealed to the public to approach issues of the Malata subsidy with vigilance and make decisions that would see the dream of owning a decent house by low income Malawians who are still waiting for their turn.

She said on the grant component, the Ministry has constructed 14 houses in Blantyre district, 10 houses in Mwanza district, and two houses are being built for albino brothers in Chikwawa district. The two houses for the albino brothers are at completion stage and remaining building materials were delivered last week.

The Malata Subsidy program was devised specifically to target low income households at very significant scale in terms of geographical coverage and number of beneficiaries. The program targets 15,440 beneficiaries countrywide (which is 75 beneficiaries under loan component and 5 beneficiaries under the grant component per constituency per annum in all the 193 constituencies) for a period of five years.

Kachikho however said that the program is facing numerous challenges in the course of implementation, some of the notable ones include, poor quality materials delivered, such as substandard roofing poles and poor workmanship in some cases,

“The other challenge is frequent transfer of key officers in various councils and shortages of technical staff in some council.”

She added: “The Ministry has therefore engaged the Ministry of Local Government And Rural Development and the Department of Human Resource Management and Development to help address the situation in view of the devolved establishment of the housing sector to local authorities.”

She said government’s expectation is that suppliers will only deliver high quality materials as per the specification.

“We have advised councils and housing development groups not to accept any substandard materials, once such poor-quality materials have been rejected, the ministry cannot honour any invoices for payment, and the supplier will be blacklisted,” she said.

In terms of supply of materials under the program in this financial year, the ministry has just completed delivery of materials in Nsanje, Machinga, Thyolo, Luchenza Municipality, Blantyre district and City, Chikwawa, Mulanje and Phalombe in the South, Balaka, Zomba district and City, Machinga and Mangochi in the East, Kasungu, Ntcheu and Lilongwe districts in the Centre, Chitipa, Karonga and Nkhata-Bay in the North.

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Chilungamo
Chilungamo
5 years ago

Minister Kachikho needs to be reminded that the whole Malata subsidy program like it’s cousin FISP are in fact unscrupulous, bogus and FAKE both in design and purpose. And Kachikho should not pretend she doesn’t know that.
While the minister is pointing a finger at ‘unscrupulous’ suppliers the rest are, in fact, pointing at DPP gurus, the real MASTERMINDS of this grand LOOTING!!!
Shame on THIEVES!!!

PATHAKO
PATHAKO
5 years ago

What do you want to tell us.Your own friends and relative are doing that.Why not tell them before you award them
contracts and when you share free moneys with them.

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