By Bishop Witmos

Chitipa, Mana: President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera has directed the Ministry of Transport and Public Works should start constructing Chitipa-Mbilima Road within a space period of four months to open up the district to the neighbouring Republic of Tanzania.

He was speaking Wednesday when he addressed a Development Rally at Chitipa Boma after inspecting some crop fields in the district.

Chakwera told the gathering that it has been at his heart to see the Chitipa-Mbilima Road upgraded to a tarmac status, adding that the road is important in spurring the country’s development.

The President said that he had an opportunity to travel on the road in the current status and appreciated that the road was indeed in bad shape.

‘‘I therefore direct the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Jacob Hara to ensure that four months should not elapse before construction of the road commences. The road is in bad shape,’’ he directed

 Chakwera said construction of the road was one of the pledges he made during the run up to presidential election.

On crop inspection, the Malawi Leader noted that people in the district would realize poor harvest and assured them and the nation as a whole not to panic as government is doing all it could to ensure that everyone was  food secure.

‘‘I am aware that we have enough food at national level, but the challenge is at household level. Malawians should not panic as we have set aside K12 billion for the buying of maize in the 2022/23 national budget to avert food insecurity,’’ he disclosed. .

Chakwera added that government would during the current fiscal year buy fertilizer direct from manufacturers to cut some costs so that farmers buy the commodity a lower price.

Traditional Authority (TA) Mwaulambya commended the President for touring crop fields in the district to appreciate how farmers have fared during this year’s growing in the district.

‘‘We all are excited for your coming, and we feel that your initiative to be inspecting crops is very important because you as a parent need to know if your children have adequate food.

“Unlike in the past growing seasons, we will realize low produce due to erratic and inadequate rainfall, and we are asking your government to consider opening up the Agriculture Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) depots earlier so that people should have access to maize,”  he hinted.

 Minister of Agriculture, Lobin Lowe said his Ministry was doing everything possible to ensure that farmers in the district have access to markets of their crops such as bananas, sun flour and groundnuts.

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