Vice-President Saulos Chilima has said government is losing a lot of money when road projects are not well funded or delayed.
Chilima made the remarks on Tuesday when he visited the 97-kilometer Blantyre City By-pass Road to evaluate the progress made so far.
He said it was sad to see that people get compensated when government wants to start a road project but when they see no activity, the same people will start encroaching the land and demand more compensation.
Chilima said projects like the by-pass road are part of national development as such, he meant to appreciate the progress made.
He also to appreciate challenges being faced by the Roads Authority, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Economic Planning and Development and Treasury so that they could sit down and find a solution on how they can fund the project.
The Vice-President also said although the initial works have been done, the main challenge is funding.
“The initial works have been done but the main challenge is funding and it is a 97-kilometre stretch of road for which in the current budget (2020/2021), we provided resources to the extent of K1.2 billion.
“If we continue to fund these projects at that rate, it will take us more than 30 years to finish this road,” he added.
Chilima said it is only fair for a project to last 3 or 4 years so that the citizens can enjoy the fruits of their tax.
He added that he was impressed with the design though, saying if done properly, the road would be of great value.
The Blantyre City By-pass Road initial works started in 2019. It starts from Matindi to Njuli and will have a 7.4m wide carriageway and 2.1m wide shoulders on each of its sides.
The project is funded by Malawi Government and being constructed by the China Civil Engineering Construction Group (CCECG).