Engineers urged to fight water, power challenges

The Malawi Institute of Engineers (MIE) has urged engineers to help find ways of scaling up supply of portable water and electricity which most communities lack.

MIE president David Mzandu said this during a dinner and dance the Institute hosted in Lilongwe.

He said it was sad that hospitals are full of patients who are suffering from preventable diseases some of which spread through drinking unsafe water.

“The country is spending much money to care for the sick. What are engineers doing to address this problem? Let us do something,” he appealed.

Mzandu also said that deforestation is becoming rampant because most Malawians use charcoal or firewood to cook.

“Electricity is inaccessible and unaffordable to most Malawians. As engineers we also need to find ways to solve this problem or we risk having the environment degraded beyond control,” he said.

The MIE president said the engineering sector should carry out research to find solutions to challenges facing Malawians.

“One of the areas where we have failed is research. I think if we do much research we will be able to establish solutions which can ensure that almost everyone has access to portable water and connected to electricity,” he said.

Chairperson of the dinner and dance organising committee William Nyirenda said the event was organised to provide a platform for engineers to interact and shape the engineering future.