Japan sets aside $15m for upgrade of Blantyre highway

The Japanese government says it has made available about US$15-million for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Masauko Chipembere highway in Malawi's commercial capital, Blantyre.

The project entails the development of the existing 7-km road, which links Blantyre's central district to Limbe shopping centre, into a state-of-the-art dual carriageway.

"Our involvement in the road project signifies the commitment of the Japanese government to help in the improvement of infrastructure in Africa. Just as we have done in Lusaka, Zambia, and other African countries, we want to build a road in Malawi that would be sustained for the next ten years," says Japanese embassy interim charge d'affaires in Malawi Hiroshi Matsumoto.

He says that Japanese construction company Shimizu has been contracted to carry out the construction work.

He says the Japanese government has opted to engage Shimizu as the main contractor because "it does not want to compromise on quality since it is the same Japanese firm "that has done a good job in Zambia and other African countries".

"This is money from Japanese taxpayers, and we have a responsibility to be accountable to them," says Matsumoto.

Construction on the project starts this month and is expected to be completed in November 2009.

The Malawi government is financing small aspects of the project, including compensating the people who will have to lose their properties to make way for the project.

Meanwhile, the Malawi government is inviting proposals from eligible consulting firms to provide supervision services for the multimillion-dollar upgrading of the Lumbazi–Dowa–Chezi road, in the central region of the country.

Malawi's Roads Authority (RA) says in a statement that more details on the project are available at its offices in Lilongwe, where interested consulting firms can obtain 'request for proposals' documents; these should be delivered to the RA on or before March 20.

Other road projects that are due to start as part of Malawi's infrastructure development programme include the $90-million construction of the Jenda–Edingeni–Rumphi road, the rehabilitation of the Thyolo–Makwasa–Muona–Makhanga road, at an estimated cost of $46,5-million, and the rehabilitation of the Bangula–Nsanje–Marka road and the Biriwiri–Tsangano–Neno road.

The road projects that are currently being implemented include the US$59-million construction of the Zomba-Jali-Phalombe road in the Southern region and the construction of the Karonga-Chitipa road at a cost of US$45-million.

The road rehabilitation programme is financed by a pool of donors, which in addition to the Japanese government, includes the European Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the government of the People's Republic of China, the Kuwaiti Fund for International Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, and the Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund.