By Paulinah Chiyombo and Zenak Matekenya:
Minster of Water and Sanitation Abida Mia has said Northern Region Water Boards (NRWB) Karonga Town Water Supply Project is critical in addressing cholera outbreak in the district district.
Mia made the remarks Wednesday when she toured the project which encompasses upgrading treatment plant from the current 12.8 million l to around 30.8 million litres of daily production.
The project is also upgrading a total some of 28.3 kilometers of transmission lines and 185 kilometers of distribution lines.
The ministers remarks come when Cholera pandemic continues to surge in the district ahead of rainy season causing fear for more deaths from the current ten out of 494 cumulative cases as of Wednesday.
She said once completed, NRWB will increase access to potable water and improve health and sanitation for a population of 184,000 people in the district.
Mia urged communities to get connected to the system for them have easy access to portable water as soon as the works are completed so they do not fall victims of poor water and sanitation related diseases.
She commended NRWB for making a remarkable progress in the projects implementation amid challenges such as Covid-19 which led to delay in mobilization of imported materials.
Director of Operations for NRWB, Engineer Doctor Asumani Ungwe said besides Covid-19 the project underwent redesigning due to bad soil formation at Gannet Holliday, where expansion of the treatment plant is underway.
“We had to redesign the ground since it had bad soil texture to avoid problems that can affect the structure in the near future,” said Ungwe.
The project will install 5,000 new water connections and construct 50 communal water points.
Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) is financing the project to a tune of US$10 million while OPEC Fund and Malawi Government have pumped in US$15 and US$1.7 million respectively.
