Govt defends lodges on Shire River pollution

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Government has defended lodges along the Shire River following reports that they were discharging sewage into the river in Liwonde.

The lodges, Hippo View Lodge and Shire Lodge, were accused of polluting the river as waste from the lodges was being dumped 20 metres from the place where Southern Region Water Board pumps its water.

Sangwani Phiri
Sangwani Phiri: The sewage which the lodges use is about 30 metres away from the Shire River .

There were fears that people in surrounding areas were using and drinking unsafe water due to the lodges’ conduct.

But government has said its analysis has shown that water in the river is safe to drink since it has not been contaminated.

Spokesperson for Department of Environment and Climate Change Management in the Ministry of Natural Resources Sangwani Phiri said experts from the ministry collected three water samples near the lodges which have shown that the water is fit for human consumption.

“It was discovered that the amount of oxygen which was there for sample one was 15.7 milligrams per litre at Shire River, for sample two it came out 16.1 milligrams per litre, the third sample was collected at the Liwonde barrage which measured 18.3 milligrams.

“But according to the standards which makes water to be fit for human consumption, it should not exceed 20 milligrams of dissolved oxygen per litre,” he said.

He added that the sewage which the lodges use is about 30 metres away from the Shire River and there is no proof that there is depositing of waste matter from the two lodges into Shire River.