Bande backs SRWB in hospital water wrangle
Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation John Bande has backed Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) for stopping some district hospitals from using boreholes.
Nsanje and Thyolo district hospitals drilled boreholes to supply water to the facilities but SRWB stopped them in August last year from using them.
Speaking after he inspected Chididi Water Scheme in Nsanje on Thursday, Bande said the board was right to stop the two district hospitals from using boreholes because it is against water supply regulations.
He said SRWB and the concerned district hospitals reached a consensus and that the two hospitals are now using borehole water.
Said Bande: “Just like many other places in Malawi, the water supply has its own regulations and what the Southern Region Water Board did was right. Yes there are regulations, but we are also open to discussions, so that at the end of the day, we have sustainable supplies and at the same time we want to ensure that there is quality of water that our people take.”
Section 19 of the Waterworks Act (1995) states that the board shall provide a supply of potable water sufficient for the domestic purposes of the inhabitants within the water supply area.
In recent years, public hospitals have at times run without water supplied by the country’s water boards due to, among others, supply failures and accumulated bills leading to disconnections.
During the visit to Chididi Water Scheme which is expected to benefit about 20 000 households in the district, the deputy minister expressed satisfaction with the progress.
“But what is more important is that what they started is going on well and there will be some improvement,” said Bande.
In a separate interview, Chididi Water Users Association chairperson Sam Katelele-Ching’oma said the solar powered scheme needs power backup.
He said Chididi area is cloudy on most days, which affects water pressure.
According to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Chididi Water Scheme was initiated following drought in 2015 that affected some parts of the country including Nsanje.
The K220 million scheme, which was funded by the World Bank, has two boreholes—a solar farm with 80 solar panels and 50 000 litre-water tank.
The project started in June 2020 and was completed in May 2021.
