Malawi Government fails to pay water bills at Zomba Central Hospital

Nov 22, 2015 Health 137
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Malawi24
Zomba Central Hospital

As public hospitals in Malawi continue to dance to undying economic woes the country is sailing through, fresh reports show that the  Southern Region Water Board has disconnected water at Zomba Central Hospital due to a staggering K6 million unpaid bill, putting pressure on patients and guardians.

Southern Region Water Board publicist MacDonald Phiri has since confirmed the development.

He says the water was disconnected at the hospital on Thursday.

He said talks between the water utility body and the hospital administration were going on in order to restore the water.

Hospital workers said labor ward and the theatre have been hit hard by the disconnection and they did not rule out suspension of the facilities if the water is not reconnected.

Zomba Central Hospital
Zomba Central Hospital: Under threat.

Reports from the hospital say guardians are now drawing water from nearby water sources in pales whilst others have resorted to unprotected water from a river.

The water utility disconnected the water as health workers in Lilongwe, Dowa and, Dedza marched peacefully to demand increased funding for the public health sector.

In Lilongwe, the doctors, nurses and other health workers presented a petition to Parliament’s Health Committee chairperson Juliana Lunguzi who promised to lobby for increased funding.

Just a few weeks ago, Malawi24 reported that the well being of some Malawians admitted in different government hospitals in the central part of Malawi remained under threat as media reports indicate that Dedza, Balaka, Chiradzulu and Ntcheu district hospitals have been hit with an acute shortage of food.

Recently,local media reported that the said hospitals are failing to provide for meals on a regular basis to people admitted there, a development that has raised much fears among guardians whose poor family members largely depend on food provided by the hospitals as the medication they receive requires regular eating patterns.

Due to overcrowding in government hospitals, people usually survive on a single meal a day with some complaining that even the quantity of the food provided is not sufficient to meet the demands of their drugs.

Commenting on the situation, the Malawi government insist that problems rocking the health sector and other public services are as a result of the plunder and looting of government’s resources in the infamous Cashgate under the watch of former President Joyce Banda.

However, the government has so far assured Malawians that it is doing all it can to ensure that quality health and other social services are provided to all Malawians.