Chiefs and councillors in Machinga concerned with water situation

Chiefs and councillors in Machinga have expressed concern with shortage of water in the district,saying it has reached an alarming level where the majority are not able to access safe water.

The concern was raised during a stakeholders meeting where Basic Services Development Agency (BASEDA) briefed the community leaders on what the local non-governmental organisation is doing about non-functional water points in the district.

Paramount Chief Kawinga said in the past, the district through Malawi Water Project was able to supply safe water from Traditional Authority Mlomba to communities around Liwonde, Kawinga, Nkoola, Nsanama to Chikweo.

Chairperson for Machinga District Council, Simplex Diwa asked the water sector in the district and its partners to continue engaging with political arms of the council on water issues.

Diwa commended Area Mechanics for ensuring that all water points were functional, assuring that the council would continue supporting local shop owners who supply spare parts for water points such as boreholes.

Machinga District Development Water Officer, Steve Meja said about 52 percent of the people in the district have access to safe water within the recommended radius of half a kilometre.

Meja said many people in the district access water from unprotected sources, adding that the district has 1,014 water points that are partially functional but are in need of repair whilst 134 and 486 have been abandoned by communities and not functional, respectively.

He added that the district which has a population of over 700,000 only has 737 water points which are in good condition.

However, Meja said the district has increased access to safe water from 78 to the current 84 percent.

“We have also registered a 15 percent increase on the number of functional water facilities from 64 to 79 percent,” Meja said

Meja cited lack of ownership by communities, vandalism, inadequate resources and environmental degradation as some of the challenges hindering communities from accessing safe water.

Project Manager for BASEDA, Davie Makhoza said the organization is implementing an Operation and Maintenance Project called Tikonze Mijigo Maintenance System (TMMS) with funds from InterAid.

Makhoza said through TMMS project BASEDA is committed to ensuring sustainable availability of water points in the rural communities.

“We have established networks of retailers who are selling spare parts to health and water committees who are working with Area Mechanics to maintain the water points,” he said. “In addition, we want to reduce vandalism by promoting the security of the pumps.”

Makhoza said currently Machinga TMMS Project is operating a network of 36 Area Mechanics and nine spare parts retail shops.

TMMS is being implemented in the 11 districts of Machinga, Phalombe, Mulanje, Thyolo, Zomba, Chiradzulu, Lilongwe, Ntcheu, Dedza, Kasungu and Mchinji.