The Ministry of Transport and Public Works and the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA) have differed on what is delaying progress of the construction of Marka- Bangula railway line in Nsanje District.
The government is rehabilitating the 72-kilometre (km) railway line from Marka to Bangula.
However, as at now, only a five km stretch has been done.
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Jacob Hara said they were waiting for approval from PPDA.
- Advertisement -
He said this was the case because there has been an additional contract sum.
- Advertisement -
“We are waiting for PPDA to give us a no objection and, once they do that, we will be good to go. At that point, we will be able to tell that we have fixed a new deadline but, as of now, it will be difficult for us to tell until PDDA clears us.
“The new price is something we could not avoid because of the realignment of the Kwacha,” Hara said.
In November last year, the Kwacha was devalued by 44 percent.
The minister further said they were seeking PPDA’s approval to adjust the contract sum as demanded by the contractor.
- Advertisement -
“We would have wanted to take this railway line all the way to Bangula as per initial plan but because of resource restrictions and some other things, we need to [instead] take it to Tengani. But now our hands are tied because we cannot have a timeline,” he said.
However, PPDA Chief Executive Officer Eddington Chilapondwa said they had just received the request from the ministry.
Chilapondwa said they were, therefore, not to blame for the delay.
“In the first place, the minister is right; the file is with us. We have finalised [the work] and we have looked into it and we have seen the merits and demerits and, by next week, we should be giving them feedback. It is not something that should cause alarm. If it is the only factor causing the delay, then we can say that, by next week, it will be done. The file has just been submitted to us three weeks ago. What they have applied for is price adjustment,” Chilapondwa said.
The reconstruction of the rail line, which was initially pegged at K68.5 billion in phase one, was set to start from Marka to Bangula.
However, following the devaluation of the Kwacha in November last year, China Railway 20th Bureau Group asked for additional funds of K28 billion earlier this year.
But Hara was also quoted as saying that the government would not pay the additional funds.
Governments of Malawi and Mozambique agreed to resuscitate railway services between Beira and Limbe after they were halted 41 years ago.
Malawi was supposed to implement the first phase of the project from Marka to Bangula and, later, complete the other phases, ensuring that the railway runs up to Limbe in Blantyre.
The first phase, which commenced in 2022, was supposed to end in November 2023 but was extended to November this year.
However, the project has also missed the deadline as about 67 km are supposed to be worked on.
Mozambique completed construction of its section and it is for this reason that, on Wednesday this week, Malawi received a fuel train from Beira at an event that was presided over by President Lazarus Chakwera.
The train carried 1.2 million litres of fuel.
However, the train could not proceed to Limbe since the Malawi side is yet to complete its project.
Forty one years ago, the train would have been in Limbe by now.
