By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, August 7, Mana: People from Traditional Authority Dzoole in Dowa district have hailed the construction of Nkhanthwe bridge by the council saying this has improved safety and eased mobility challenges.

In an interview, one of the community members, Chifundo Mwale of Ngalawi village said before the construction of the bridge, people during rainy season used to face challenges when crossing the river to access markets, schools and hospitals at Mponela.

"It was a tricky situation because you would want to go somewhere and sell your goods, access banks, schools and hospitals, but you could not do so because crossing the river during rainy seasons was dangerous as we did not have a good bridge.

"Over the years, we have had some accidents and others lost their lives while trying to cross the river using unchartered crossing areas, so it was a big challenge," he said.

Mwale said as an alternative, people were forced to use long routes, which he said was both expensive and time consuming.

He however, said the construction of the K27 million concrete deck bridge by the council under the Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) has eased these challenges.

“Even during rainy season, people can now cross the river, day or night without any problem.

"The bridge also improved business opportunities as farmers can easily sell their produce at Mponela at a higher price, than relying on vendors to come to the villages which reduces product value,” he said.

Madalitso Charles of Binda village who has this year sat for her standard eight Primary School Leaving Certificate of Educations Examinations at Malambo primary school, said the bridge is also helping leaners around the area.

"The nearest school from here is Malambo primary school, but we used to go to Tchawale which is very far because of lack of a safe bridge. This affected class performance as we used to reach to school late and tired.

"But with this bridge, children can now go to Malambo school which is nearer, this gives us enough time to concentrate on our studies," he said.

Director of Public Works at Dowa District Council, Oscar Kumwenda in his remarks said GESD is helping to improve service delivery in the district.

"We are building schools, police units, market sheds, medical facilities and bridges among other infrastructures.

"On our part as a council, we are making sure that every project we are delivering to the people should be durable, of high quality and meet stipulated requirements and specifications. But most of all, it answers to the challenges of the people, like it is with this bridge," he said.

Recently, Dowa district council scooped position one in the Local Authority Performance Assessment (LAPA) under GESD.