BWB Mulanje water project completion next Monday

Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Kondwani Nankhumwa says the Blantyre Water Board (BWB) Likhubula Water Supply System project will be completed by next Monday.

Speaking on Thursday when he inspected the project’s Nguludi Pumping Station in Chiradzulu, the minister said the completion means the project could be commissioned next month to enable Blantyre residents and surrounding areas start benefitting from it.

He said Blantyre City has had water challenges for a long time and government found ways of supplying more water to residents in the city and $22 million (about K17 billion) has been invested in the project, which is tapping water from Mulanje Mountain to the water-stressed city.

“The water is going to reach 300 000 residents in Blantyre and in the long- run, water shortages will be history in the city,” said Nankhumwa.

He said government is exploring ways on how locals can benefit from the project and after proper evaluation and consideration, people in areas surrounding the project will be getting water from the system.

In his remarks, BWB chief executive Daniel Chiweza said there has been a delay in completing the project within the stated time-frame due to storms and heavy rains experienced earlier this year.

“You might recall that between February and March, we had storms and heavy rains that disturbed our programmes. Most of the areas where we were laying our pipes were not accessible because of the rains. So, our equipment could not access the site and we had to stop work for about a month,” he said. Areas set to benefit from the system include Malawi University of Science and Technology in Thyolo, Bangwe Township, Mpingwe, BCA and part of Chigumula and other areas around Limbe.