K387bn needed for improved sanitation

Capital Hill says about K387 billion (about $967m) is needed for the country to have improved sanitation facilities that would improve health and socio-economic development of the people by 2022.

Such funds would help the country to achieve its goal of a nation free from open defecation by 2015 and of increasing access to improved sanitation facilities with 52 percent by 2022.

But with limited funding, about K280 billion (about $700m) will be needed to improve sanitation facilities with 26 percent by 2022.

This was revealed in Mzuzu on Wednesday during a sensitisation workshop for key stakeholders on the National 10-year-sanitation and Hygiene Investment Plan and Strategy (NYSHIPS) developed by the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development.

The main objective of the NYSHIPS is to quantify investment alternatives needed for achieving the goal for Malawi in attaining an open defaecation-free (ODF) status by 2015 and increasing the rate of adoption and use of improved sanitation facilities.

Director of sanitation and hygiene in the ministry, Mc Lawrence Mpasa, said waste management in the country is a challenge to improved sanitation and hygiene.

“The way we manage waste leaves a lot to be desired. We need to come up with proper infrastructure where waste can be collected, treated and disposed of properly without causing harm to the surrounding environment,” said Mpasa.

According to the NYSHIPS, households are expected to finance 40 percent the bulk of all investments. Government, through the coordinating Ministr of Irrigation and Water Development, departments and local government structures take up 44 percent of the investment budget. Various government ministries and departments are to contribute the remainder of the budget.

NYSHIPS has been developed through the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Development with financial assistance from the Australian Agency for International Development (Ausaid) under the National Water Development Programme II.