By Mphatso Nkuonera
Lilongwe, June 16, Mana: The Roads Authority (RA) says Covid-19 pandemic has hit hard the construction industry causing stagnation of some projects which should have finished timely thereby positively impacting on the citizens in the communities.
RA Chairperson, Joe Ching’ani, made the remarks at Capital Hill in Lilongwe on Wednesday during donation of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to Ministry of Health.
The donation which includes 6 350 face masks, 275 coveralls, 2 000 face shields, 300 boxes of medical examination gloves is worth over K9 million.
RA has also made a K200, 000 cash donation.
“The pandemic has negatively impacted on the construction industry, causing scarcity of cement and other construction materials, led to loss of labour, reduction of workforce at working sites which has prolonged project’s completion period.
“In that regard, this donation is a response to the president’s call for support and as a sign of unity for our country to stand strong against this lethal plague,” Ching’ani said.
Deputy Minister of Health, Chrissy Kalamula Kanyasho, called upon other institutions in the country to emulate RA’s good gesture and join hands with government in the battle of suppressing the spread of the deadly pandemic.
“This donation is very timely because it will strengthen the management of the pandemic, that has robbed the country five patriotic engineers who should have contributed positively in the development of the country. I urge you all to consider taking the second jab that rolled out recently.
“I further appeal to the end users to use them rightly, and that no-one should abuse these donations, while we always continue to observe all the Covid-19 preventive measures,” Kanyasho said.
The Deputy Minister said it is worrisome that citizens seem to relax while cases in the neighboring countries continue rising.
“We have noticed the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country. This is as a result of the third wave that has hit our neighboring countries,” she said.
