NCIC optimistic to uphold accountability and transparency through Infrastructure Analytic Dashboard
National Construction Industry Council of Malawi, (NCIC) says Infrastructure Analytic Dashboard will help stakeholders to easily follow and access information on the on-going infrastructure projects across the country.
Engineer Gerald Khonje NCIC Chief Executive Officer said this initiative will take industry players in construction to a mile step as they will be able to monitor on different challenges a particular project is facing and citizens also will be able to take to task duty bearers whenever they say that projects are delayed or are not of good quality.
He was speaking this during the launch of Infrastructure Analytic Dashboard in Lilongwe which is under CoST program, this is a tool which easily facilitates understanding of the disclosed infrastructure data for easy decision making by stakeholders in the construction industry.
“As a regulator we are also able to analyse that information, so that we identify gaps we come up with interventions to address those gaps or to take those with substandard work to task, so this dashboard is very helpful to the Malawian nation,” Engineer Khonje said.
He also emphasized that due to regulations on the disclosure of information for public consumption including Access to Information Act, stakeholders are under obligation to publish the information and as a council they work with enforcement agencies to make sure that the information is published.
“It terms of stakeholders they have been able to appreciate the information that they have been seeing, some stakeholders think that nothing is happening within the country but when they see the information that is available there, they become to wonder and know that alot is happening in the construction industry,” Engineer Khonje added.
Minister of information and digitalization graced the occasion and he saluted what NCIC saying that it will help to increase trust among the citizens on the critical issues of transparency and accountability as people will be able to understand and follow what is happening in the construction industry.
He also said this is inline with what President Lazarus Chakwera directed when he step into government as he operationized access to information act and this is going to boost Malawi development as the country goals are towards achieving agenda 2063.
” This will give Malawians opportunity to monitor what is happening, what their government is doing in uplifting their lives in regards to agenda 2063,” Kunkuyu said.
On his part CoST program Malawi Multi-stakeholder chairperson Joe Ching’ani said infrastructure projects goes along way with huge amounts of tax payers money and it is very important that there should be transparency and accountability in public infrastructure financed projects and in that regard it is imperative that all stakeholders are put the resources to a good use so that the citizens should appreciate the value of money and there should be good management of resources.
CoST program has four approaches which include; disclosure of information on infrastructure development, Multi-stakeholder working, social accountability as well as assurance.
Infrastructure Analytic Dashboard is supported by Foreign Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO).
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