By Steve Chirombo

Chikwawa, July 18, Mana: Irrigation Engineer for Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP), Engineer Martin Chizalema, said K10.2 billion will be required to rebuild the progamme’s intake and structures that were damaged by Tropical Storm Ana in January this year.

Engineer Chizalema disclosed this to Principal Secretary (PS) for Ministry of Economic Planning and Development Winford Masanjala, who toured construction works at the site.

He said they had already constructed the base slab foundation and were in the process of constructing wing walls of the intake when the storm hit.

“Due to this damage it means that the intake structure needs to be reconstructed. In this case, it means spending extra money.

“So, definitely, our budget is affected and we will need more money to finish construction works of the intake. We are projecting around $10 million extra based on the preliminary estimates. The cost estimate will be made once the design of the intake is completed in the next five months,” said Engineer Chizalema

He further said the programme will start with planning and designing and then construction of a cofferdam to restore power generation at Kapichira Power Plant by December 2022.

“We are working hand in hand with Egenco engineers to ensure that the designed structures are resilient to future occurrences,” he said.

Taking his turn, Winford Masanjala, PS in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development said SVTP is a mega project benefitting the Malawi 2063 Agenda.

He said the first pillar of Malawi 2063 agenda is agriculture productivity and commercialization adding that the project seeks to commercialize agriculture even land consolidation among small holder farmers.

Masanjala said so far the World Bank has expressed interest to fund some of the additional works that are needed in order to bring the project back to track.

“We are very grateful to World Bank and we are very hopeful that this will come through. There is a team of designers who are here to redesign the intake and the cofferdam for Kapichira.

“Once these designs have been completed and cost then we will know how much additional funding is required from our corporate partners,” said Masanjala.

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