Water for People donates motorbike to WUAs

Water for People, an international organisation working towards helping people to have access to clean and safe water in the country, has donated a motorcycle to the umbrella body of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Blantyre.

According to the organisation’s programme manager  Ephrone Mwenitete, the motorcycle which is pegged at about a million kwacha has been bought with funds from Tilitonse. Mwenitete said his office secured K63 million (US$196,261) funding from Tilitonse to implement a three-year institutional strengthening project for eight WUAs in urban Blantyre.

He said the motorcycle will be used by the newly formed umbrella body which has nine members.

During the donation which took place at Grace Bandawe conference centre and witnessed by representatives of the Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama),Public Affairs Committee (PAC), Blantyre Water Board(BWB) and chiefs, the participants also discussed some of the challenges in access to clean, safe and constant water supply.

Programme officer for Cama, Noel Kaponya, told The Nation recently that WUAs were selling water at different tariffs. He asked the umbrella body to strive for uniformity in the cost of water.

PAC’s Reverend Mathias Hauya also called for transparency from the group. He asked the umbrella body to formulate good policies and ensure they are adhered to.

“As ex-officials, we will be watching you and ensure you are doing a good job. If we observe anything we will invite a meeting with you. It is time for us to end water problems and so we expect transparency and authenticity in paying monthly bills,” said Rev Hauya, adding that he has learnt that some WUAs do not pay their water bills to Blantyre Water Board (BWB) in time.

BWB kioks manager Francis Baluwa promised the umbrella body that his office will ensure they have water at all times and asked them to pay their bills promptly.

He however, asked the WUAs to help his office in fighting vandalism and theft of water pipes saying it is the major challenge that is affecting operations.