Members of Parliament (MPs) Monday authorised government to obtain a $23.6 million (approximately K17 billion) loan from the Export-Import Bank of India while expressing skepticism on whether the loan will achieve its intended purpose.
The funds, according to Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Goodall Gondwe, are for the extraction of water from Mulanje Mountain to Blantyre to ease water challenges that the commercial city is grappling with.
MP for Dedza East Juliana Lunguzi— who through a Private Members’ motion wants Gondwe to tell Parliament how all loans obtained from various institutions since 1994 have been used—said she was skeptical on what the deal between the Malawi Government and the bank is.
“There are no details of the project so that relevant [Parliament] committees should be able to follow up step by step where every dollar will be going. We are robbing Malawians because of the way we are doing these things.
“Just having a blue document of two pages is not enough. The details of the project are important for us to appreciate what we are approving the funds for. Otherwise, I remain skeptical until I see the water coming to Blantyre,” said Lunguzi.
MP for Thyolo East Timothy Solomoni also said he was not comfortable with Blantyre Water Board (BWB) handling the project but would rather have Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) handle it instead.
“Indeed people in Blantyre are looking forward to this project… If you look at the bill, you find that it concentrates on Blantyre and says nothing on other areas through which the pipes will go,” Solomoni said and went ahead to suggest that Mulanje and Thyolo should also benefit.
Even though there is a clause in the loan authorisation act which states that the funds are not meant for any other purpose, Minister of Information Patricia Kaliati said other areas apart from Blantyre will also benefit from the main pipe.
Gondwe also echoed such sentiments, saying there was an omission regarding the areas that will benefit from the project.
On his part, MP for Rumphi East Kamlepo Kalua asked Gondwe: “Are you sure this loan will address water problems this time around? We have had this problem for a long time, through different governments.”
There was also concern among the lawmakers on why engineers from Israel have been billed to undertake the project “while Malawi also has highly qualified engineers”.
In his response, Gondwe defended the arrangement, saying information among many people indicates that engineers from Israel are highly efficient in such projects. He, however, added that Malawians too will work on the project.
During the day, the legislators also passed the Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Bill which, among others, seeks to protect consumers from electronic crimes and cracks down on abuse of electronic transactions.
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