Minister cautions CDF contractors on delays

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Ben Phiri has warned contractors working on reformed K5 billion Constituency Development Fund (CDF) projects against delays, saying projects must be completed within six months.

He said contractors have been given implementation periods of between 120 and 180 days, depending on the nature of works, and are expected to meet the deadlines without compromising standards.

Phiri (R) lays a foundation stone for a project in T/A Namaguya. | Andrew Viano

Phiri said this yesterday at Mitundu in Lilongwe during a tour of development projects under the reformed CDF in Lilongwe Msinja North Constituency.

The minister dismissed suggestions that projects starting several months into the financial year were already behind schedule, saying the new arrangement required extensive preparatory work, including architectural drawings and soil testing.

“This is a reformed CDF. We needed to do a lot of planning, where architects needed to come up with these drawings and where soil tests needed to be done. In doing that, it is part of the construction period,” said Phiri.

He said government put in place implementation plans to ensure contractors complete projects within agreed periods, warning against attempts to seek unnecessary extensions or price adjustments.

“People are so glued to the past, where resources were just being dumped at the council. This is not CDF. It is a reformed CDF. And it is well planned to the extent that we are cruising nicely. There is no delay whatsoever,” said Phiri.

Malawi Building and Civil Engineering Contractors and Allied Trades Association board member Rocky Kaunda said timely completion would also depend on government meeting its payment obligations.

Meanwhile, Phiri said six councils that missed the previous CDF tranche because they had not completed procurement processes have not lost their allocations.

The affected councils are Blantyre District, Blantyre City, Chikwawa, Kasungu District, Mulanje and Nsanje.

During the tour, Phiri inspected construction of a multipurpose hall at Traditional Authority (T/A) Namaguya, which will house the traditional leader’s headquarters.

The K321 million contract, awarded to Homedroid Construction, also covers a solar-powered reticulated water system, electrification and two VIP toilets.

Under the current arrangement, each of Malawi’s 229 constituencies has been allocated K5 billion for development projects, translating into a national allocation of K1.145 trillion.

This is up from K220 million per constituency in the previous financial year.

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