By George Mponda

Karonga, March 25, Mana: Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara has warned contractors working on road projects in Malawi that they will be required to undertake remedial works at their own expense if their work is deemed below standards.

Hara said this on Tuesday in Karonga as he was inspecting remedial works being done on the Karonga Boma to Songwe border stretch of the M1 Road.

"I must admit that this road was not properly done from designs all the way to the construction, and I must warn contractors in this country that no contractor is going to get away with shoddy works," said Hara.

"We do have a defects liability data period and, in that period, if we notice defects, contractors will be required to fix them without any money from the government. That is what you have seen happening here. Some of the works that are happening on these sections are works that shouldn't have developed faults by this day.

“This road was finished in 2018 and it should still be in good condition this day since the design period is mostly 20 years. For this road to begin to fail in the seventh year is unacceptable, which is why we have instructed the contractor to remedy the works by end May with new designs," the Minister explained.

On his part, site agent for Zhejiang Communications Constructions Company (ZCCC), which originally rehabilitated the road, Gift Mtombosola, said they will finish the remedial works within the 21 days.

"We have a programme that has been drawn and shared to all the stakeholders concerning this stretch that we are about to undertake right now. Technically, water overflowing from the Rukuru River is what damaged the road so we will, among other works, increase the pavement layers to deal with this design flaw," said Mtombosola.