The Pacific Limited, a firm currently repairing free broken boreholes in Nsanje district, has cited high water salinity levels in the district as a major factor contributing to broken boreholes in the district.
The company’s borehole rehabilitation project Team leader, James Nsusa, told Malawi 24 that for instance out of over 40 boreholes the firm has lined up to repair in Nsanje Central Constituency for free, almost half of them broke down due to the challenge of saline water.
“The situation is contributed to the wearing out of most borehole spare parts mainly the pedestals, pump heads, rods, etc, thereby rendering most boreholes unusable”, said Msusa.
He added that as a solution to the challenge, the firm has resorted to using galvanized and stainless steel borehole spare parts in all the boreholes they are repairing instead of steel parts.
On his part, Nsanje district Water Development Officer, Chikumbutso Herema, also acknowledged the challenge, saying authorities in the district have been encouraging communities facing these problems to contribute a small amount of money for them to repair the worn-out spare parts every three months, which he said most communities are unable to.
Parliamentarian for Nsanje Central Constituency, Kafandikhale Mandevana, in which the free maintenance works are taking place, said the challenge has forced him to facilitate the changing of the borehole spare parts every two years, a development which he said is costly.
Currently, Pacific Limited has rehabilitated over 200 boreholes in Nsanje out of the 300 boreholes it has earmarked to repair while in Zomba, the firm has repaired about 300 boreholes out of the 500 boreholes it has targeted.
The firm has renovated over 7,000 boreholes since 2015.
