Malawi water situation dire—report
The Malawi piped water state is dire, a report by the Kalondolondo Programme has revealed.
The report, unveiled in Lilongwe on Wednesday, also says the Malawi piped water situation lacks focused strategic direction and leadership and exposes low prioritisation of water issues in the national budget, neglect of duty, gaps in policy implementation and irresponsible consumer behaviour.
Covering Blantyre Water Board (BWB), Lilongwe Water Board (LWB), Southern Region Water Board (SRWB), Central Region Water Board (CRWB) and Northern Region Water Board (NRWB), the study reveals unmet water demand in 21 of the 24 districts under coverage.
It also reveals that people in 19 of the covered districts showed dissatisfaction with the billing system and pricing, while the quality of water in some areas was poor.
Director of Administration in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development, Dokani Ngwira, said government reckons the water problem in Malawi, but said it cannot be resolved if the country’s forestry resources continue being depleted.
Kalondolondo Programme Manager Jephter Mwanza said the study involved 14 213 respondents.
The survey looked at water reliability, quality, pricing and billing management, quality of communication between water users and water boards and timeliness in initial water connections. n
A nation of corrupt officials. At almost every level of the echelon.
To be sure, climate change is factoring into the supply side of H2O in the equation. And demand has increased due to unchecked population increase, over the past decade, especially. There is no question that the whole situation is made worse by “officials” requiring a “”bribe”, even just to get one’s application for H2O connection to be processed: like these officials are not paid wages for doing the job, in the first place.
Then there is the issue of managers, like the ones at BWB, not being accountable for their incompetency, and lack of rigor in planning even for obvious issues like deterioration of equipment.
One more thing: Forestry officials, including managers, were criticized “heavy” when enforcing conservation regulations. Critics would say (“Kodi chifukwa chani inu a nkhalango mumakonda mitengo kuposa anthu?”) or why do you foresters favor trees over people? Incredible!
Now we are paying the price, as deforestation is a big part of the problem in the current supply of water and its quality.
But did any political “leader” pay any price for this?
And I doubt if the general public really, currently, appreciates the value of our forests in this context. Even with the evidence currently in full view.