Malawi: Govt to Criminalise Contractors Over Substandard Road Projects

By Fazilla Tembo

The Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jacob Hara, has warned that his ministry will soon start taking to court contractors who produce substandard work on the roads of Malawi.

Hara sounded the warning during the Face the Press he jointly held with the Minister of Information and Digitalisation Gospel Kazako at the Central Office of Information (COI) in Lilongwe.

The event was aimed at on updating the nation on development taking place at the ministry, including road construction project.

He said from now onwards, consultants and contractors who produce substandard work will be prosecuted.

"It is important that roads and other infrastructures that are constructed and upgraded can withstand the weather and are of high standard," he said.

Hara said the government is in the process of acquiring a machine that will test the standard of roads.

The results from these tests will be made public so that everyone sees them for transparency, he said.

In his remarks, Kazako said there has been a lot of theft of public funds in the road construction.

"This has compromised the type of roads being constructed and upgraded in the country," he said.

Kazako said the law will take its course to those companies who want to steal from Malawians.

This article originally appeared on Nyasa Times

Photo: Nyasa Times