By Lazarus Nkolombidzo
Zomba, Mana: Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) is failing to follow government’s announcement of free water connections as announced to start from April 1, 2022.
In an interview on Wednesday in Blantyre, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for SRWB Rita Makwangwala said the Board was in the process of conducting assessment and would then come up with implementation modalities.
She said as soon as the board finalizes its assessment, free water connections would commence.
“We are fully aware of the communication but the Board has not yet started connecting water for free as we are currently in the process of conducting assessments to determine eligibility of customers as spelt out in the guidelines for free new water connections,” the PRO added.
Makwangwala cited that SRWB has already procured meters that would be used once the exercise commences.
“Free water connection will attract a lot of customers to be connected hence we are strategizing on how best to implement this while being able to manage the high demand for connection as well as water consumption,” she explained.
Makwangwala said the Board has plans to increase its water sources on top of Mulunguzi Dam, which cannot meet the anticipated demand.
The Board has since received over 1,000 applications that are currently under scrutiny.
