Roads Authority says part of the M1 Road that was washed away at Kyungu Bridge in Karonga District has been temporarily repaired and vehicles have been passing since around 7 this morning, beating the 24-36 hour deadline that was set.
This comes after State Vice President Dr Saulos Chilima assured Malawians that the M1 road will be functional by Friday afternoon. Dr Chilima was speaking after appreciating the situation on Thursday.
The road was cut off on the sides of the bridge at Kyungu river on Thursday due to heavy rains.
Chilima says after the rainy season, there is need to redirect the river to its original course.
“The works will include filling up the washed away section with 120 trucks of quarry and rocks. Issues of negligence and poor workmanship will be handled later, but for now the focus is to open traffic by tomorrow.
“As you can see the bridge is intact but the water failed to pass under the bridge and washed away the road side,” Chilima explained.
According to Roads Authority’s Public Relations Officer, Portia Kajanga, this is a good development considering the socio-economic importance of the road to the country.
