SALIMA-(MaraviPost) – Malawi’s water crisis remains prone towards waterborne disease, especially with fresh revelation that about 7,000 households in Salima North-West Constituency, are wrestling for more boreholes. There is only one borehole.
This is one of the typical examples on how the water shortage has reached crisis proportions in the country after 53 years of the Malawi’s independent.
The Maravi Post’s visit to the area on Sunday. While at Matumba, Traditional Authority (T.A) Nkhombedza, this reporter encountered the ordeal of women and young girls who wait for up to six hours to draw water from the lone borehole.
The borehole, which was constructed about two decades ago, still remains the hope for the communities, despite it’s on-and-off operations, to serve the villagers.
In the same constituency, the entire TA Makanjira does not have a borehole; and the communities rely on water from rivers and Lake Malawi as source for drinking and for their household chores.
This situation prompted Water Mission and Christian Services, local faith organizations, to respond to the crisis by fixing the oldest borehole. The organizations planned to drill five extra boreholes, in a bid to solve the water and sanitation challenges this community grapples with.
Various interviews with members of the communities, reveal the shocking escalation of social ills due to the scarcity of safe clean water, among them high school drop outs, early and child marriages, marital fights, and water-borne diseases.
“We have been living with this borehole since 1946. But with the growing of the population, the borehole is failing to serve us all as the demand is high. Our children go to school around 10 a.m., coupled with repetitive absenteeism due to water scarcity.
“Even, marriages are in disarray as most us women, we wake up as early as 3 a.m. to fetch water, which does not please most husbands. With the coming of Water Mission and Christian Services, in consultation with our Member of Parliament (MP) Jessie Kabwira, who fixed the bore, and plans to drill more, will address the crisis which we can’t continue to bare with,” said Esnart Fred of GVH Kunkhonga in the constituency.
MP Kabwira, who donated funds for the completion of the borehole renovation, lauded the two organizations for responding quickly on the challenge.
The lawmaker urged Government to increase Community Development Funds (CDF) from MK18 million to MK30 million annually.
“With the water crisis hitting hard in most local communities, the best thing is for Government to allocate more resources in the CDF. This will directly meet the villagers’ needs including construction of more borehole,” Kabwira said.
