The Centre for Democracy and Economic Development Initiative (Cdedi) has called on the Roads Authority to release road project contract agreements within seven days for the public to appreciate what is contained in them.

This, said the body, is to help people understand why most projects fail to withstand slight climatic shocks and end up being destroyed within months of completion.

Most roads are in poor shape

Speaking at a press conference in Lilongwe on Thursday, Cdedi executive director Sylvester Namiwa said the recent heavy rains have exposed poor workmanship, negligence and outright disregard of contractual details in the implementation of some projects.

He said: “Although the impact of the cyclones and tropical storms has been devastating, Malawians are  their own witnesses that, to a large extent, the losses of lives and government finances are due to poor workmanship on the projects.

“Tropical Ana has exposed that there is deep-rooted corruption in connection with public infrastructure projects.”

Namiwa said the Roads Authority needs to release the contract agreements on nine roads in the country within seven days or risk unspecified action.

But in a written response on Thursday, Roads Authority senior public relations officer Portia Kanjanga said they will follow the provisions of the Access to Information Act which Cdedi has referred to in looking at their request.

Asked whether the Roads Authority is failing its job since roads in the country are not lasting long, she said: “The views of Cdedi are noted and respected. As Roads Authority, we follow standards and specifications that are internationally accepted.”

In a separate interview Engineering Institute of Malawi president and chairperson Alfonso Chikuni agreed that there is a lot of compromise of project design standards.

He cited the first bridge to be washed away in Marka, Nsanje where the institute sent a team of experts to investigate.

He said preliminary findings of the investigations show that even the hydrology manuals used were those developed around 1980, a time he said flood levels were different from the present reality.

Chikuni has since expressed worry over the development, saying: “I am just hoping that the findings in the draft report by the investigative team aren’t entirely accurate because if they are accurate then it is very atrocious. My advice is that the designs must go through peer review before being adopted.”

National Construction Industry Council acting chief executive officer Gerald Khonje said while he could not recall specific queries on the road projects off the cuff, there are numerous complaints that the council receives.

The road projects whose contractual agreements Cdedi has demanded are Jenda-Edingeni, Karonga-Songwe, Mzimba-Mzarangwe, Kapiri-Mkanda, Ntchisi-Malomo, Kenyatta Drive and Sharra Street, Ntcheu Tsangano, Nsanje-Marka and Nsanama-Nayuchi roads.

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