MUTHARIKA CHALLENGES WATER PLAYERS

President Prof. Peter Mutharika has challenged all players in the water sector to implement the resolutions from the Water Conference that was held on Monday, ahead of the World Water Day commemorations on Tuesday.

Mutharika made the call at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe Tuesday, during the commemorations of World Water Day which falls on the 22nd of every March.

The president said Malawi was one of the countries affected by climate change and that there was need to think very seriously about water and related natural resources that help in preserving the hub of life.

He commended and congratulated key players in the water sector for a successful conference on the subject on Monday and that he looked forward to results.

“I want to see results from that conference you had yesterday and the results should be in line with Sustainable Development Goal number 6,” said Mutharika.

He added: “In the goal we have made commitment to the world and to the people to provide access to water and access to sanitation; I, therefore, need three things: I need action, action and action.”

Mutharika said the Lilongwe Water Board and Blantyre Water Board started way back in the 40s and that by now, there was need for things to have changed.

The President further said government would “pay any price to make water accessible” to everyone but he said for this to happen there was need for every Malawian’s participation, quoting the adage: fumbi ndiwe mwini.

Mutharika also bemoaned the low levels of water in the country’s rivers and lakes which he attributed to wanton cutting down of trees, hence he called on all Malawians to plant more trees.

Earlier in the day, the President toured and commissioned the new Lilongwe Water Board’s treatment plant at the board’s head offices.

The commissioned water treatment plant has the capacity of producing a total of 30 000 cubic meters of water every day against the 95 cubic meters of water produced using the old water treatment plant.

Prior to gracing the commemoration of World Water Day at BICC, Mutharika toured a number of stands where various players in the water sector demonstrated the roles they play in the water development and management.

As part of the commemorations, the president also presented a symbolic certificate of appreciation to the local young engineers who designed and built the LWB water treatment plant Mutharika commissioned.

The UN theme for the 2016 World Water Day event was ‘Better Water, Better Jobs’ but here in Malawi, it was localized to ‘Water for People, Water by People.’