The Blantyre City Council says the machinjiri road rehabilitation will take not less than four months as currently, the council has commenced procurement processes for the rehabilitation of the road that was cut off following heavy rains some two weeks ago.
Speaking to MBC Online Director of Engineering Services for Blantyre City Council, Chimwemwe Mndelemani said the council has made an application to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority to get approval on engaging a contractor for the rehabilitation works.
Mndelemani said the construction works are expected to take about four months.
Meanwhile, the council has identified diversions and alternative routes to be used in the affected areas which are expected to be fixed as many are in poor condition.
He said: āSo far we have identified diversions, these are existing roads which can also serve the public alternatively. Now the council is working on doing some maintenance works on these existing roads so that they are all in good condition.”
Some weeks ago communities in Machinjiri residents demanded from the council prompt action saying there was too much negligence to fix roads in the area.
The bypass road has now turned into the only road currently under use following the destruction of the main tarmac road.
Community Chairperson for the affected communities Barnabas Komakoma said communities have been fixing the road using their resources for the past 15 years as authorities like the Blantyre City Council have been neglecting the road despite various calls.
Meanwhile, Barnabas has called on council authorities to prioritize the three-kilometre stretch which is currently in bad shape.
āWe have engaged our local authorities including our two parliamentarians; Honorable John Bande and Honorable Gertrude Nankhumwa to engage with the city council to fix our road which is in a bad state since the traffic has now increased,āā said Barnabas.
#MBCNewsLive
