Vice President Saulos Chilima called on the Roads Authority (RA) to follow the correct procedures in awarding contracts and  ensure that public roads are constructed, maintained or rehabilitated at all times.

The above follows after last Friday, when Chilima, as the Minister of Economic Planning and Public Sector Reforms, engaged the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) last Friday and was encouraged to note that the organisation is in a good financial position. Chilima was pleased that the RA has posted surpluses in the past five years, but cautioned the firm to improve on its road construction and deadlines.

The meeting saw the need to review the National Construction Industry (NCI) Act. “…we have welcomed the amendment proposal, more so as an enabler towards a new reform area for the council as it aspires to become and renamed Construction Industry Regulatory Authority,” said Chilima. On the other hand, the Minister of Transport, Sidik Mia, said his ministry will commit to consolidating resources towards the implementation of the National Transport Master Plan (NTMP). “We will make sure that those resources are channeled to the rightful use and develop the sector to be at par with, or even surpass our peers in the region,” Mia said. NTMP is hailed as an initiative that provides measures to reduce transport costs and improve the transport sector’s contribution to GDP.