Shire Valley Transformation Program Faces 91 Million USD Deficit

Ganda Ganda - pic by Alfred Guta

As it goes into the second phase, Shire Valley Transformation Program (SVTP) is facing a 91 million USD deficit.

Principal Secretary Responsible for Irrigation in the Ministry of Agriculture, Engineer, Geoffrey Mamba, disclosed in Chikwawa on Sunday.

“Tropical Storm Ana damaged the intake so we had to redesign and we are reconstructing it so resources were increased on that basis. We also experienced cost escalations as a result which is not what we planned,” explained Engineer Mamba.

The Parliamentary Committee on Budget and Finance visited the site to appreciate works done so far under the program.

Engineer Mamba, told Zodiak Online, “you may have heard that the World Bank has already given us 134 million USD.

“We have held an appraisal engagement with the AFDB Mission. They have assured us that they will come back and assist us with 50 million USD. So, we believe the AFDB bill will be passed in parliament without problems as the legislators have appreciated the works being done under SVTP.”

However, Gladys Ganda, the Committee’s Chairperson, while appreciating the progress said, “on pricing escalations we are not impressed with the explanation.

“To blame it on devaluation we think it’s a non-starter, payments are made in dollars actually they were supposed to benefit from the devaluation, we should be talking about variations not devaluation,” explained Ganda.

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