By Wisdom Ngwira
Mzuzu, September 21, Mana: Area Development Committees (ADCs) in Mzimba North have sounded an SOS to authorities that there is need for an immediate solution to water woes that have hit Mpherembe Health Centre in the district for four months.
Previously, the health facility used water from a borehole and adjusted to piped water supply system which stopped functioning sometime back.
Speaking Monday during an interface between duty bearers and members of Mtwalo and Mpherembe ADCs), Chairperson for Mpherembe ADC, Bruce Lungu, said since the piped water supply became faulty in June this year, there has never been any efforts to rectify the challenge.
He said the development was putting lives of patients and health workers at risk.
“We are really struggling as taps dried up four months ago. This is a very big problem bearing in mind that this is a health facility where water should have been a priority and a must,” said Lungu.
He said service delivery has negatively been affected at the facility due to the water challenge, hence the need for an immediate intervention from government.
“We have, on several times, tried to engage authorities at the district health office but all we get are promises that they will look into the matter,” he said.
Chairperson for Mtwalo ADC, Sangster Nkhandwe, said communities struggle to have basic services like water because of the manner in which some public resources are administered.
Nkhandwe said the problem would have been history if Constituency Development Fund (CDF) was well managed.
“We continue complaining of social amenities like water, yet we have public funds that are meant to address such issues.
We would, therefore, propose that ADCs should be empowered to be monitoring the utilisation of CDF to avoid the fund being abused by politicians,” Nkhandwe.
In her response, Director of Administration for Mzimba North, Tamara Nyirongo, said she was disappointed to have a health facility operating without running water for four months.
“Honestly, this is unacceptable because we are definitely compromising on critical issues like maternity and other health-related services.
“I will personally link up with the district health office to immediately sort out the water woes there,” said Nyirongo.
