Mining & Trade News

The Malawi Government says it is advancing with the procurement process for the long-awaited construction of Mpatamanga Hydropower plant on Shire River following the prequalification of a consortium comprising SN Power Invest Netherlands B.V and Electrite De France SA (SN Power and EDF SA) as a preferred strategic investment partner for the project.

Acting CEO for Malawi Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) Audrey Mwala says the Commission is currently assessing documents submitted by the consortium to determine their capability to invest in the project.

Mwala says the procurement stage will go on up to early 2021 when the investors and the Commission are expected to kickstart the process to identify a contractor to execute the project.

“This contractor identification process will cost us almost half a year since we will be looking at a number of factors in identifying the construction company,” says Mwala.

She says PPPC is committed to ensure that construction of the plant starts as soon as the contractor is identified.

Malawi is backing on the power plant to increase its electricity generation capacity to do away with the electricity blackouts emanating from the load shedding programme that the Electricity Supply Commission implements to ration power supply.

The Malawi Government is inviting sealed bids from eligible bidders for the construction of irrigation canals in lower Shire Valley area.

The construction of Main Canal 1 and Main Canal 2 is part the Shire Valley Irrigation Scheme under the auspices of the US$563-million Shire Valley Transformation Program, which is financed by the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

 “The works under contract covers the construction of Main Canal 1 (MC1) from Station 6+000 up to 32+788 (Bifurcation point), and part of Main Canal 2 (MC2) from Station 0+000 (Bifurcation point) up to Station 18+024, (Lengwe national park),” says the Ministry of Agriculture in a Press Release.

It says the works will include construction of two inverted siphons on MC1, three inverted siphons on MC2, bridges, box culverts, canal crossing structures, concrete lined canal, and wire fencing around populated areas. The works are located in Chikwawa District.

“Bidding will be conducted through the International Competitive Bidding procedures as specified in the World Bank’s Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, works and non-consulting services,” states the Ministry.

The deadline for submission of bids is September 21, 2020 and interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from the Shire Valley Transformation Program -1.

The project development objective for Shire Valley Development Programme – 1 is to provide access to reliable gravity fed irrigation and drainage services, secure land tenure for smallholder farmers and strengthened management of wetlands and protected areas.

SVTP is a program of three sequential but partially overlapping phases (with different financiers entering at different times and in parallel financing arrangements).

The National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) says the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) has affected operations and the supply chain of the construction industry.

NCIC CEO Linda Phiri told Mining & Trade Review in an interview that the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the construction industry due to the sector’s over reliance on imported products and government’s restriction measures to ease the spread of the virus, which have lowered work performance.

Phiri said: “The Construction Industry has been affected mainly in three perspectives, first is the disturbance of the supply chain including source of materials both imported and local materials as borders, shops and factories either have remained closed or scaled down on operations.”

“Secondly, the operations on sites had to be scaled down or modified which has affected the rate of progress of the works; and finally incorporation of measures to control and manage the spread of the pandemic has affected the financial performance of the construction industry.”

Phiri said the pandemic has also affected the council’s financial performance following the suspension of all trainings that the council offer and charges its levy.

The NCIC’s financial performance is directly related to the performance of the construction industry as levy is charged on completed and certified works.

Phiri said since the trainings have been suspended and most projects slowed down, the rate of levy collection has slowed down, and this as well has resulted in non-collection of fees.

“Following the disturbances in the stated financial sources of the Council, if the situation continues to the end of the year the Council could lose over 30% of its revenue from levies and over 70% of its revenue from training fees,” she said.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to fight against the pandemic, the Council has collaboratively implemented guidelines in all construction sites to ensure that all players are in line with certified preventive measures.

She said the guidelines include; ensuring proper sanitation facilities are in place and procedures properly followed with regard to personal hygiene, sanitizing and restrictive use of tools and equipment; social distancing; and general management of site.

Phiri urged stakeholders in all construction sites to follow the guidelines warning that the Council will be the daily watchdog monitoring compliance and that all non-complying projects will be suspended as a penalty.

NCIC works in liaison with various stakeholders identifying areas that need standards or adoption of standards and coordinating the development of various standards for the construction industry, and promoting the use and compliance with standards.

The Council also plays the role of ensuring that all contractors, consultants, material manufacturers and suppliers and all players in the construction industry are operating within roles set forth in the NCI Act of 1996 and codes of ethics of 2009.

Certification from the council gives a path way for construction companies to carry out construction related activities in Malawi while committing to professional and ethical conduct.

The Council also ensures that the players give a paramount consideration to issues of safety, health and welfare of the public; perform services only in areas of their competence; refrain from any corrupt practices and deception acts; and conduct themselves honorably and lawfully.

The Malawi government is planning to start construction of a modern military hospital at Kamuzu Barracks in Lilongwe.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health Joshua Malango confirmed to Mining & Trade Review that the project is currently at the design stage.

“Once the design is out, the Ministry will advertise for the procurement of works so that a contractor is identified and construction begins,” he said.

Finance and Economic Planning Minister Joseph Mwanamveka said in his presentation of the 2020/2021 national budget statement that the government has engaged a consultant to develop the design of the hospital which will be ready end July 2020.

“The government is also in discussions with would be financiers of the project,” he said.

The Malawi government has allocated K195 billion for the health sector in the 2020/20121 financial year, which represents 9.7% of the total budget.

In the new financial year, the Malawi government plans to complete construction of the Domasi Community Hospital, Phalombe District Hospital, the National Cancer Treatment Centre in Lilongwe, and three health centers and Umoyo houses in 29 sites across the country.

The government has also planned to kick start construction of Mponela Community Hospital in the 2020/2021 financial year.

The Malawi Government has planned to construct new water supply schemes while it continues with rehabilitation and extension of existing ones.

State President Arthur Peter Mutharika said this in his state of the nation address during the opening of the ongoing parliamentary budget meeting.

“Government will continue with construction of new water supply systems, rehabilitation and extension of existing schemes through the various projects currently under implementation but also introduce new projects to start in the upcoming financial year,” he said.

He said the projects include completion of the rehabilitation of six gravity fed schemes under the Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, rehabilitation of Nkhatabay Water Supply System and construction of New Water Source on the Shire River for Blantyre Water Board.

Mutharika said in the forthcoming Financial Year, Government plans to rehabilitate seven gravity fed schemes and rehabilitate 560 boreholes under the Malawi Drought Recovery and Resilient Project in 19 drought affected districts.

He said in the last financial year, his government carried out the rehabilitation of 12 gravity fed schemes, development of 450 boreholes and construction of 266 sanitation facilities in schools, market centers and health centers in Rumphi, Nkhotakota, Phalombe, Mangochi and Ntcheu under the Sustainable Rural Water and Sanitation Infrastructure Project and the Malawi Drought Recovery and Resilience Project.

Mutharika said his government drilled 440 boreholes bringing the total number to 545 across all the 19 drought affected districts.’’

The government also completed the construction of a new water supply project tapping water from Likhubula River in Mulanje to supply Blantyre City. The scheme brings an additional 20,000 cubic meters of potable water to the city of Blantyre and surrounding areas.’

He said his government also continued with construction works to raise Kamuzu Dam 1 under Lilongwe Water Board and completed the rehabilitation and expansion of Dowa, Dwangwa, Salima and Ntchisi Schemes under Central Regional Water Board.

The Malawi government says it has reached an advanced stage in its plans to upgrade the M1 section from Chidzanja Road Junction to Mchinji Roundabout in Lilongwe to a dual carriage way.

State President Arthur Peter Mutharika said in his State of the Nation Address presented in parliament on June 5, 2020, that the dual carriage way and the Area 18 Interchange currently under construction will help reduce congestion in the Capital City.

Mutharika said: “In order to ease traffic congestion which has of late affected our major cities, Government is implementing some road projects to improve the flow of traffic in the cities and urban centres.”

“Some of these interventions include: Construction of Traffic Interchange at Area 18 on the Parliament Roundabout – Bingu National Stadium Road in Lilongwe which will be completed in the next financial year; and upgrading of the M1 Road in the city of Lilongwe involving construction of a dual carriageway from Chidzanja Road Junction to Mchinji Roundabout. Construction works on this project will commence soon.”

Mutharika also said the Malawi government is advancing with preparations for the rehabilitation of the M1 Road from Kamuzu International Airport to Mzimba Turn Off Junction and Kacheche to Chiweta which will cover a total distance of 347 km.

He said the road fromNsipe to Liwonde, which covers a total distance of 55 km will be upgraded during this coming financial year.

“Weighbridge stations are also to be constructed in Dedza, Bwengu in Rumphi and Madziabango in Chikwawa,” he said.

Rural roads have also been considered in this coming financial year, as the government has launched 72 contracts for construction of bridges with funding from the Roads Fund Administration as a complementary package to rural road improvement projects.

As one way of securing additional revenue for road maintenance, the Malawi government is planning of implementing a Toll gate system on selected sections of the M1 road.

Meanwhile, the Malawi government is also implementing some projects aimed at improving the rail, water and air transport.

Mutharika announced that on air transport, Government has procured navigation and communication equipment, and five fire-fighting engines for Kamuzu and Chileka International Airports in order to ensure safety and security of the airports and airspace.

 On rail transport, he said Government, through the National Transport Master Plan, is working on the construction of a combined rail/road bridge for the Ruo Breakaway at Osiyana near Makhanga in Nsanje on the Limbe– Marka Railway Line and Thyolo–Makhanga Road.

He also said government is rehabilitating and upgrading the 399 km Nkaya – Mchinji Railway Line; constructing the Limbe – Sandama section on the Limbe – Marka Railway Line; and a new railway bridge across the Shire River at Shire North in Balaka.

On water transport, he said Government is implementing the Likoma Jetty project, which commenced in 2019/2020 Financial Year.

“Considerable progress has been achieved in the construction of the jetty whose completion would be very beneficial especially to Malawians living on the islands of Likoma and Chizumulu,” said Mutharika.

Malawi’s Minister of Education, Science and Technology, William Susuwele, says the Malawi Government has started the construction of 250 Day Secondary Schools in the country under the US funded Secondary Education Expansion for Development (SEED) project.

Susuwele told journalists in Lilongwe that government has also embarked on expansion of 100 Community day secondary schools under the World Bank-funded Equity with Quality Learning at Secondary (EQUALS) project.

The Minister said the aim of the two projects is to address the problem of low transition rate of students from primary school to secondary school due to lack of secondary school infrastructure.

“I am aware that transition rate from primary to secondary schools remains low. This has been so due to inadequate secondary school infrastructure,” he said

The Minister said with such infrastructure in place, access to education will increase by more than double in four years’ time.

The Minister also announced that government has abolished the quota system of selecting students into public universities. According to Susuwele, the system which has been operational since 1987 has been abolished because of the changes in the education sector, compared to the situation in 1987.

” Since quota was introduced in 1987, the context has changed as we now have reasonable spaces in public universities,” he said

Meanwhile, the ministry has also reintroduced the Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE) on grounds that many students were relaxing after the examinations were abolished which resulted in their failure in the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE). The first JCE examinations will be administered in 2021.

Malawi will host an international construction industry conference at Nkopola Lake Conference Centre in Mangochi from August 5 to 7 this year, the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) has announced.

NCIC’s Corporate Affairs Officer Daniel Nyirongo says in a Press Statement that the main objectives for the international conference include to share and take stock of the current best practices for construction excellence, adopt resilient and inclusive strategies in infrastructures development, to explore ways to enhance collaborative regulation for the industry, consider ways of harnessing the formal and the informal sectors in the industry and consider the matters of capacity building, quality and standardization for the industry.

“The international construction industry conference will significantly contribute to the social economic development of many countries through provision of products and services that support agriculture, transport, health, education and many other sectors,” says Nyirongo.

He explains that NCIC, in collaboration with stakeholders, continue to exert efforts towards creating an enabling environment for the development and operation of a vibrant, efficient and sustainable construction industry through multifaceted collaboration.

“The Council envisions sustainable and internationally competitive industry,” he says.

The theme of the conference is ‘’Sustainable infrastructure development – a Catalyst for National Socio-Economic Development.”

The sub themes of the conference include; resilient and inclusive infrastructure, collaborative regulation of the industry, capital development, quality and standardization and harnessing the formal and informal sectors in construction.

Meanwhile, researches, practitioners, developers and persons engaged in the construction industry are invited to submit papers and insightful case studies on the theme and its subthemes for the conference by February 29, 2020.

The Council says all the submissions will undergo a review process and the successful ones will be published for the conference.

The Malawi Government is seeking to prequalify contractors for the construction of Mzuzu Youth Center and ancillary facilities at Katoto in Mzuzu city.

The Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture says in a statement that the tender is open to local contractors currently registered in the unlimited category (building) of the National Construction Industry Council of Malawi (NCIC) and any interested international contractors that are registered in the equivalent category in their respective countries.

It says the pre-qualification questionnaire documents can be obtained at the ministry’s office at Capital Hill in Lilongwe or on its website (www.ppda.mw) from November 6 during working hours.

“The pre-qualification questionnaire document contains methods, criteria and factors that the Government of Malawi, referred to as procuring entity or employer shall use to evaluate and determine whether a contractor has the required qualification to effectively, efficiently, technically, economically and sustainably executive the said works in order for the employer to achieve the desired business objectives,” says the Ministry.

The deadline for submission of pre-qualification documents is December 9 at 15:00 hours local time.

“Interested contractors and/ or their representatives and members of the general public, may attend the opening of the bids at 15:00 hours local time on Monday November 9 2019 in the conference room of Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture-Capital Hill in Lilongwe,” it says.

The Ministry is advising bidders to ensure that the documents are submitted in accordance with ‘The pre-qualification requirements’ in the documents, as non-compliance will lead to disqualification and rejection of the contractor.

The bids shall be valid for 30 days after bid opening.