Barely two months before the start of the rainy season, the government says it needs over K500 billion to rehabilitate roads which suffered Tropical Cyclone Freddy damage in March this year.
Transport and Public Works Minister Jacob Hara said part of the required money has been secured and progress has been made in rehabilitating some of the roads.
He said this when he monitored progress of the Monkey to Mac Clear road, with construction works set to be completed in October this year.
“The devastation is huge and cannot be fixed easily. We told councils to do assessments for our costing and we have established that we require between K500 billion and K700 billion to fully rehabilitate the infrastructure that was damaged by Cyclone Freddy,” Hara said.
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The minister said the Roads Authority is concentrating on rehabilitating bridges on the Mangochi-Makanjira Road, Lakeshore road and others in the Southern Region.
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He revealed that the government is talking with development partners on the possibility of funding the recovery plan— which was already established.
Commenting on Cape Maclear road works, Hara expressed optimism that the works would be finished before the rainy season.
“We will try, on our part, to make sure that forex and fuel for the works are available so that they can finish the works in time. This road is important because it will open Cape Maclear to tourists,” Hara said.
In his remarks, Mangochi Council Chairperson Hassan Chikuta appealed to the government to consider extending the road project to Sumbi Market to help motor cyclists who use that road.
