The Shire Valley Transformation Programme seeks to put over 40,000 hectares under irrigation in Nsanje and Chikwawa districts. But the project is being tainted by claims of abuses of local junior workers by its Chinese contractor
Junior local workers at the mega Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP) are alleging assault and sexual abuses perpetrated by some managers of the project’s Chinese contractor, SinoHydro Corporation Limited.
In one case, police arrested two Chinese supervisors recently for allegedly assaulting and leaving for dead one of the workers on suspicion that he had stolen fuel at the construction site in Chikwawa District.
Authorities at the SVTP have told Malawi News that they have since engaged the contractor to express displeasure over the case.
The two officials have since been suspended.
Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and with support from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is implementing the multi-billion kwacha14-year project which seeks to put 43,000 hectares of land under irrigation in the Shire Valley.
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The three-phase project rolled out in 2018 and runs all the way to 2031.
In 2021, Chinese firm SinoHydro Corporation Limited was awarded a $78.4 million contract to construct two main canals for the project.
Amid the prospects of the transformation the project could bring to people in the two districts and Malawians in general, cases of abuse of local workers have emerged.
In one most recent case, Sladji Maliwa, loader operator for SinoHydro was assaulted to unconsciousness.
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It is said SinoHydro mangers assaulted Maliwa who hails from Sadulo Village in Traditional Authority Katunga in the district on suspicion that he had stolen fuel.
We visited Sadulo at Chikwawa District Hospital last week.
“That day, I was as usual in the field doing my work and I saw some two men who carried jerry cans passing by. Down the road, they met my boss who suspected that I had sold them diesel. He ordered me to stop working and that I should follow him to his office,” Maliwa said.
At the office, he said, his superiors confronted him about the fuel.
“I insisted that I did not know anything and that I did not steal any fuel. They did not believe me. They pushed me into a room where some of them started beating me up using galvanized pipes,” he said.
According to Maliwa, the bosses later hauled him into their vehicle and dumped him along the road leading to the construction camp.
“Some passersby saw me and rushed to report to police where officers came and took me to this hospital. This I was told because I was unconscious. I am told other passersby avoided me thinking that I was dead,” he said.
He sustained injuries in the legs and around the waist.
His wife, Eurita Maliwa, said when he regained consciousness at the hospital, he could not sit or lie down comfortably on the bed because of pain.
On whether he would return to work after being discharged, Maliwa said he would think about it.
“I may return because of poverty. However, it is not a right place to work. There are several abuses happening there. Welfare of people is not considered. People are beaten up without mercy but they do not speak out for fear of being fired,” he said.
Chikwawa police publicist Dickson Matemba confirmed the arrest of the two bosses suspected to have been involved in Maliwa’s assault. They are 37-year-old Allen Cheng and 35-year-old Peng Yongqia.
They appeared in court and they were released on bail.
“The victim was rescued by his colleagues while lying unconscious along the road that connects to the Chinese camp. The matter was reported to Chikwawa Police Station and the victim was referred to Chikwawa District Hospital where he was admitted,” Matemba said.
While police in the district say this is the first case of abuse reported to them thus far from the project, some workers we talked to claimed, on condition of anonymity, that local junior workers at the site suffer sexual violations, physical abuse and low pay.
When contacted, SinoHydro’ s site manager, a Mr Lin, refused to comment. He said the firm’s lawyers were handling the matter.
Chairperson of Chikwawa Civil Society Network Anderson Billiat described Maliwa’s experience as unacceptable.
“The Shire Valley Transformation Programme has a significant impact on the citizens of Chikwawa and Malawi as a whole but for some contractors to violate people’s rights is unacceptable to us. The case of Mr Maliwa is currently in court and we await justice to prevail,” he said.
He said the CSO network is planning a series of meetings seeking to address issues of labour and human rights at the project.
“Additionally, we will run an awareness campaign against theft of government property within the project,” Billiat said.
SVTP Social Safeguard Specialist Arthur Kambombe said they have so far recommended that the Chinese managers be suspended from their duties.
“As we speak, they are not working and we are also following with keen interest on the same. We also engaged management [of SinoHydro] to express our concerns on what happened. We told them that this should never happen again. We have also reported the matter to our donors,” he said.
The SVTP aims at increasing agricultural productivity and commercialisation for targeted households in the Shire Valley.
