THE Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) has asked government to explain its position regarding the construction of the MachingaChingale-Lirangwe Road which has been the centre of controversy for years now.
Former president Joyce Banda officially launched the road project—estimated at K18 billion—in April last year after an agreement had been signed by the Malawi government and the Kuwait Fund, but the project was suspended due to alleged flouting of contractor procurement procedures.
Minister of Transport and Public Works Francis Kasaila disclosed, some months ago, that government is committed to resuming constructing the 62-kilometre road.
But according to CCJP, the absence of the project in the National Budget that was passed in Parliament over two months ago, raises serious questions on government’s real commitment to fulfilling its promise.
Speaking in Lilongwe on Monday during an interface meeting on the commission’s Promotion of Democratic and Accountable Governance (PDAG) project, CCJP National Secretary Chris Chisoni observed that while the project has been appearing in previous budgets, the actual financing has not been happening. Under the project, CCJP initiates advocacy campaigns
particularly on issues to do with access to clean and potable water in some parts of Karonga and the Machinga-Chingale-Lirangwe Road. “In fact, this is not unique to this particular road project. There are many other public structures that have budget allocations but nothing happens.
This has been there even in the previous administrations. “On the road in question, we wanted government to explain its current position so that the beneficiaries know where we are as a country.
We invited them (relevant government officials) but they haven’t shown up. We don’t know why; we cannot speculate,” said Chisoni.
He also faulted statistics on MDG I and II which declare that there is an increase in the population that has access to safe and potable water in the country, arguing that researchers are not giving government the data that represents the actual picture on the ground.
This was shared by other CCJP officials who pointed out that most water points that are included in compiling the data are not functioning.
Leave a Reply