Construction of US $17.7m Chitipa-Mbirima road in Malawi is set to start mid this year after the passing of the 2020-2021 National Budget in July. The poor condition of the13km road from Chitipa Boma to Mbirima at the country’s border with Tanzania has sparked demonstrations by locals who want the Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) offices to be moved from the Ilomba border post citing inaccessibility.
According to the Minister of Transport and Public Works Ralph Jooma, the Minister said government realises the importance of the road to the border with Tanzania and was already working towards upgrading it from earth to tarmac. “I travelled through the road today and I know that the people in Chitipa have a genuine cry for the upgrading of the road because it is in bad shape. The government will allocate US $17.7m for upgrading the road to bitumen standard in the 2020-2021 budget,” he affirmed during a meeting between cabinet ministers and the business community in Chitipa aimed at resolving the contentious issues.
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Initial works on the road
He further added that, in the interim, the government has injected US $204126 and put a contractor on sight to put culverts, drainages and gravel in some parts and further grade it in April after the rains. “I urge the people of Chitipa to bear with government on the project because construction of 1km tarmac road costs US $680422,” he said.
Sydney Simwaka a member of the business community said they will be monitoring the situation closely to ensure that the government keeps its word. “We are happy with the outcome of the meeting and we hope that everything that has been said will be implemented. We will be monitoring the progress of the road to make sure that it will indeed be constructed after the next budget,” Simwaka said.
Upgrading the road to bitumen standard will boost trade in the district both at large scale and small scale.
