State President His Excellency Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has stated that government will start the reconstruction
of north bound M001 road stretch from Chiweta in Rumphi to Karonga Boma as soon as the road designs are completed.
The President made the revelation in parliament on Wednesday 26th February 2025 in his response to questions from Member of Parliament for Karonga Nyungwe Hon. Kenneth Ndovie.
Dr Chakwera said that Chiweta – Karonga (M001) is a strategic road both nationally and regionally, as it is part of the North – South Corridor in the SADC region.
He said government appreciates that the road is currently in a poor state with many failures and potholes which has reduced its level of service and increased operation costs for road users.
“My Government is currently in the process of procuring a consultant to do a detailed design for the stretch, thereafter, we will procure a contractor to rehabilitate the road.
The rehabilitation works will be similar to what we are doing on the Lilongwe – Mzimba Turn off and Kacheche – Chiweta sections of the M001 road,” he said.
He further said that for the meantime, government has already identified a contractor to work on the difficult sections and patch all potholes to improve the level of service in the short term.
On the Kacheche – Chiweta road stretch the President reminded the house that a contractor, China Henan International Cooperation Group Limited, is already carrying out rehabilitation works on this stretch of the M001.
The initial completion date for the contract has been shifted due to some design changes that necessitated changes in the scope of the works, more especially in the escarpment.
On Chitipa – Nyika – Rumphi road the President said that government considers the road to be very important and strategic as apart from connecting the many communities to different socio-economic activities, the road also directly resonates with the ATM strategy as it would promote tourism to the beautiful Nyika National Park and movement of agricultural inputs and produce.
The President explained that the construction works are being implemented in phases with Plem Construction Company, working on the first twenty kilometers from Bolero to Bembe.
This phase is expected to be completed on 30th September, 2025.