By Andrew Mkonda
Karonga, July 7, Mana: Over 200 000 residents of Mzuzu City will soon benefit from a Water Efficiency Project worth about K25 billion which is aimed at boosting water supply in the city and its surrounding areas.
The development was disclosed on Monday by Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Titus Mtegha in an interview with Malawi News Agency.
Mtegha said the project, which will be financed by the European Investment Bank (EIB), is expected to be completed by December, 2020.
He said the project will act as an interim intervention as the water supply body is waiting for government to source funds for construction of the proposed Lambilambi Dam in Chikangawa Forest.
He said among other things, the project is aimed at rehabilitating, upgrading and extending the existing Mzuzu and Ekwendeni water supply systems.
“We should have all works completed by December 2020. This will ensure that we have enough capacity to supply water to our customers in the city and its surrounding areas.
“We want to construct two raw water intakes across Lunyangwa River in Mzuzu and Ekwendeni in order to store additional water as we upgrade Lunyangwa Dam for us to meet the water demand during dry seasons,” said Mtegha.
“Once we upgrade the dam by 1.5 meters, we will be able to store more water to serve us for a few years as we wait for donors to assist us in financing construction of Lambilambi Dam,” said the NRWB Chief.
Speaking in a separate interview, one of the Mzuzu residents, James Kumwenda commended NRWB for the initiative, saying it will go a long way in addressing water supply challenges in some parts of the city.
“In most cases, communities in Mzuzu City experience dry taps, forcing some people to source water from unprotected sources. I hope with this new project, this problem will no longer be there,” said Kumwenda.
