Contractor of the K16.1 billion Songwe One Stop Border Post (OSBP), Jiangxi Construction Engineering, has set an ambitious deadline to finish construction of the facility by November this year.
The World Bank-funded project stagnated at land reclamation and was also delayed to take off in 2019 due long procurement processes and the development of resettlement action plan, among other factors.
Speaking when Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA) officials inspected the project site, resident engineer Msafiri Seboro said physical progress of the project is at 12 percent.
Seboro said the project, which officially started in August last year, also faced heavy rains, which affected work.
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“We have started foundations of some of the buildings. After that, we shall have steel from Uganda in the next two or three weeks and then we shall start putting up structures.
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“We are also going to do some internal roads and one that connects with Tanzania. We are trying to push the contractor to work as fast as possible,” he said.
The development is coming while a similar project was completed on the Tanzanian side.
However, the project has come with challenges such as congestion at the border and delays to clear imports and exports.
A truck driver, Clement Change, who at the time of the interview was heading to Tanzania with pigeon peas, said he had been at the border for three days.
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“This is one of the busiest border posts but then the delays are too much. I was cleared three days ago but I still cannot go because of the congestion. Some people even stay longer,” he said.
MRA Commissioner General John Bizwick acknowledged the challenges saying he would engage the Directorate of Road Traffic to consider having a mobile weighbridge at the border.
“We are also going to have a talk with the Directorate of Road Traffic; perhaps we can have a mobile weighbridge,” he said
Songwe is one of the top three borders in terms of revenue collection and receives most of the imported cars 40 to 50 cars per day.
The project falls under the World Bank’s Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Programme
OSBPs, which were introduced in Malawi in 2015, are specialised border crossing points that aim to streamline and facilitate trade and movement of goods and people between neighbouring countries.
OSBPs are designed to consolidate border control procedures and services in a single location, reducing duplication and inefficiencies.
Once completed, the Songwe OSBP will house the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Services, MRA, Malawi Police Services, among other agencies.
