The National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) has emphasised the need for mindset change among stakeholders in the construction sector in ensuring quality of infrastructure.
This came out during the rolling out of Infrastructure Delivery Management Standards (IDMS) in Blantyre on Friday.
The IDMS is a document that provides guidelines on how infrastructure projects should be conceived, planned, procured, designed, executed, operated and maintained as well as disposed of.
NCIC Chief Executive Officer Gerald Khonje said the document was conceived after several gaps were identified in the sector, leading to poor infrastructure in the country.
“We want to sensitise the stakeholders, hence this meeting. The purpose is that the stakeholders must know what they need to do when running their projects. There are some components that will be turned into regulations; then, they will become enforceable and become mandatory for all players to adhere to,” Khonje said.
Blantyre City Council Chief Executive Officer Dennis Chinseu hailed the council for the drive.
“We are also looking forward to having structures that reflect the development we should be having. Looking at these standards, I am impressed that these will provide proper guidelines in the construction sector,” Chinseu said.
Executive Dean of the school of engineering at the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences Barnet Mkandawire said the standards entrenched in the document will bring sanity to the industry.
“These standards will go a long way in improving our teaching because we will include all that is included in those standards in our curriculum,” Mkandawire said.
