Malawi Congress Party (MCP) has accused Finance, Economic Planning and Development Minister Goodall Gondwe of exposing Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) to the risk of lawsuits by, among other things, failing to endorse the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) arrangement in Salima- Lilongwe Water Project.
MCP spokesperson on finance, Alexander Kusamba-Dzonzi, accused Gondwe of hindering progress of the project.
The legislator further said Gondwe has done the same to Diamphwe Multipurpose Dam Project, which means none of the three options that LWB flagged to government to be implemented between 2014 and 2019 will bear any fruit.
“However, this House and the whole country must know that these actions [of the Finance Minister] have exposed Lilongwe Water Board to numerous lawsuits which will be premised on the government’s failure to ratify the EPC funding arrangement and for the time Khato Civils’ equipment [that is lying idle] is consuming since they entered the country, just to mention but a few.
“Soon, Lilongwe Water Board will be under receivership as it cannot deal with lawsuits which will be running in millions of dollars. Lilongwe Water Board will very soon close shop, all because we have a Minister of Finance who is too unconcerned about the cry of others and a Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development who is too afraid to stand up and defend the needs of his ministry,” Kusamba- Dzonzi said.
Gondwe told Parliament on Monday that he would respond to the MCP, People’s Party and Budget and Finance Committee queries at an appropriate time.
The Lake Malawi Salima-Lilongwe Water Project is estimated to cost $440 million to supply at least 100 million cubic litres per year and serve Lilongwe residents up to 2035.
The LWB and Khato Civils had signed an EPC by December 19 2016 and the EPC was procured using a restricted tendering mechanism.
EPC-based funding was then secured in December 2017 and the government already issued a sovereign guarantee on it.
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