People hail borehole rehabilitation project

People of Traditional Authority Kalumbu in Lilongwe South West Constituency have commended Pacific Group of Companies for repairing 57 non-functional boreholes in the areas.

One of the community members, Milliward Kamchipala, said in an interview on Saturday that women and children used to travel long distances to access potable water.

“The situation affected children as they reported late for classes. Again, we need water to observe personal hygiene amid the outbreak of Covid-19, polio and cholera in the country,” he said.

Kamchipala also said the company trained him and others on how to repair boreholes to make the project sustainable.

“I will train borehole committees on how to repair the facilities when they break down,” he said.

Group village head Mthethe said it was important for community members to learn how to fix the boreholes.

“We may not have another chance to have the broken boreholes repairs by well-wishers. We thank the company for training community members to fix broken boreholes,” she said.

Lilongwe South East legislator Baba Malondera (Malawi Congress Party) said out of 331 boreholes in the area, 111 were broken.

“Water is life. Therefore, we commend the company for using its resources to repair the non-functional boreholes. I urge community members not to vandalise the boreholes,” he said.

Pacific Group borehole rehabilitation team leader James Msusa said they trained community members to repair boreholes to sustain the project.

“People should learn to fix minor problems on their own, without waiting for well-wishers to carry out the exercise,” he said.

The exercise in the area is expected to cost the company K40 million.