The Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) on Friday launched Lilongwe Water and Sanitation Project’s sanitation marketing campaign dubbed Zamakono which will facilitate adoption of new and modern sanitation interventions and promote the improvement of water supply services in the city.
The launch took place in Lilongwe at Area 50 and Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation John Bande presided over the launch.
Speaking at the launch, Bande said Government has to be proactive as the population in Lilongwe is growing so fast and sanitation is a challenge.
“We have to ensure that all issues to do with sanitation must be properly aligned and we have to improve. Sanitation is one of those issues and as a Ministry responsible for sanitation issues and water, we are happy with the World Bank project that has just been launched as this will help the people in Lilongwe to have modern toilets which they can re-use after the toilets get full and at the same time the sewage will have a place to be deposited.
“Waterborne diseases are mostly coming due to sanitation issues so if you improve on sanitation and water you are most likely to have health people to contribute to the Development of the country,” said Bande.
In his remarks, Lilongwe Water Board Chairperson Eng. George Kajanga said the project they have launched is dealing with sewage that is developed in low income areas and that the project seeks to improve access to water supply and safely managed sanitation.
According to Kajanga, it is expected to directly benefit 250,000 people with improved water services while a further 250,000 people are expected to benefit from safely managed sanitation services.
“Most of these beneficiaries are in poorer areas in the southern part of the city where intermittent water supply is widespread. The project will increase access to safely managed household and public sanitation in Lilongwe. The sewerage network will be rehabilitated and expanded to 107 kilometers. It is expected to connect 5000 new customers while the Kauma treatment plant will be upgraded,” said Kajanga.
The project is supporting construction of 8,000 improved OSS facilities for vulnerable households in Lilongwe specifically in Chinsapo 1& 2, Mgona, Mtandire, Mtsiriza, and Kauma aside from constructing model public sanitation facilities for a total of 10 schools and 10 Markets within Lilongwe City.
“To complement the construction of the model toilets as mentioned above, we also have an element of Faecal Sludge management to promote effective collection, transportation and treatment of faecal sludge from pit latrines, septic tanks and other onsite sanitation systems,” said Kajanga.
On his part, World Bank country director Hugh Ridell said, the World Bank has a portfolio in Malawi for about 2 Billion US dollars and a quarter of that is in the water sector.
“Now the Lilongwe water supply project is 115 million US dollars and it finishes in 2025. The project is on track, the World Bank is extremely satisfied with the performance of the project and in fact recently we added another 45 Million dollars to that investment. So, we believe water is part of the solution to many Malawians. Urbanization is moving extremely rapidly and we need to catch up, water is central for life in rural life for agriculture but it’s also central for life in urban areas. So we are very committed to support the Government of Malawi to address water sanitation eater supply and also water issues,” said Ridell.
