President Peter Mutharika has called on communities to cooperate with the contractor Mota Engil to finish construction works on Lilongwe Old Airport-Kasiya-Santhe road at Kabudula Trading Centre in Lilongwe .
President working ahead
Mutharika at work in ground breaking
Mutharika made the appeal at a ground breaking ceremony to mark the start of the construction works of the road.
He said the road will induce more investments in agriculture thereby creating more employment for them and improving their incomes, hence contributing to the reduction of poverty.
“Employment will be created for many rural Malawians thereby improving their incomes. When the project is finally completed a lot of businesses will mushroom along the road and the communities will be empowered economically.
“We all know how important this road is as it passes through some of the most agricultural productive areas in the country. Good roads improve the welfare of Malawians by providing improved accessibility and mobility and access to socio-economic activities and services,” said Mutharika.
He said his government has placed the development of road infrastructure as one of the priority areas in order to provide improved access and mobility to Malawians, especially those living in rural areas.
Mutharika urged the communities to avoid stealing construction materials such fuel and cement as this will delay the project.
“Your cooperation and ownership of the project should manifest itself in safeguarding construction materials on the project. We have heard of cases of theft of construction materials such as fuel and cement on a number of road construction projects and we do not want that to happen here.
“It is sad that the very same people who are supposed to benefit from use of the road are the ones in the forefront stealing from the contractor. Theft of construction materials will only delay the project. We all know how we have waited for this project and we would not want any delays in the implementation,” advised Mutharika.
He also took trouble to advise the contractor and other construction personnel to be mindful of their contractual obligations and ensure that the road meet the specified standards.
“It is at times disappointing to see contractors that are not mindful of their contractual obligations and go well beyond the stipulated construction period. This should at all cost be avoided in this project.
“My appeal to Mota Engil is to continue maintaining your high standards and let’s work together to develop this country. To the general public living along the road corridor, my appeal is that you should cooperate with the contractor during construction of the road and to take ownership of the road project,” said Mutharika.