BT water project starts Sept 1
The $23.5 million (about K18 billion) Likhubula Water Supply System is set to commence on September 1 following finalisation of negotiations between Blantyre Water Board (BWB) and the contractor during the past two weeks.
BWB has disclosed that with financing from the Exim Bank of India, it has engaged SMC Infrastructure Private Limited of India to carry out the works of tapping the water from Likhubula Water Source on Mulanje Mountain.
BWB chief executive officer (CEO) Henri Bakuwa said in an interview on Monday there was need to ensure that the contractor puts up enough human and financial resources so that the initial contract duration period of 24 months is reduced.
He told Weekend Nation on the sidelines of a visit to the site this week by members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development that the contract period has now been reduced to 20 months.
Bakuwa disclosed that issues of compensating affected people along the project line which was hampering progress of the project has also been sorted out after BWB’s board approved a sum of K168 million. Eligible beneficiaries, he said, would get the money through the district commissioners (DCs) of the affected districts before September 1 2017.
An environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) conducted by Waste Water Management Consultants—environmental specialists the board recruited-details the nature of compensation to be paid.
Bakuwa explained that in coming up with the report, and assessments for compensation, the specialists worked hand in hand with local chiefs, office of the DC in the affected districts and village development committees (VDCs).
He said: “To ensure that there is accountability and transparency, we decided that the money must be handed to the office of the DCs who know all the local chiefs and people in the affected areas.”
The designs of the contract allow for a 15 percent subcontracting locally and it is expected that the contractor will partner with local contractors and that some people within the surrounding districts will be employed, according to the project report.
However, there are fears of sabotage of the project as some interested groups such as Citizens for the Protection of Mulanje Mountain (CPM) have vowed to block the implementation of the project, arguing that BWB did not honour an agreement to plant trees around the catchment area of Likhubula River.
But Bakuwa has played down the threats, saying as a board ,they have conducted enough sensitisation meetings with local leaders and the communities and that it is only a few overzealous people who want to stand in the way of the project.
A parliamentarian from Mulanje, Bon Kalindo, who for some time was vocal and protested the idea of tapping the water from Likhubula, refused to comment when on Tuesday, contacted saying he landed himself in trouble when he expressed his views on the project.
Leader of CPM, David Majeweta, however, in a telephone interview on Tuesday said: “Let the contractor come and he will see what former Minister George Chaponda saw on October 29 when he came here. Even if government was to bring the army, we are not scared.” He was referring to the incident when the local people physically prevented the former minister from inspecting the water source.
But in a separate interview, chairperson of Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Joseph-Chidanti Malunga said his committee fully supports the project because with the population boom in the country, cities like Blantyre are receiving pressure and the demand for water is also increasing.
He said BWB needs to be supported as demand for clean water in Blantyre is growing every day.
Once completed, 20 million litres of water per day are expected to be brought from Mulanje and the water will be channeled into a treatment plant at Nguludi in Chiradzulu through gravitation.
