Water Utility Over-Stretched And Under-Maintained

Long known as a peaceful and quiet city, especially at night, Blantyre is steadily losing its reputation for tranquility.

Residents now find themselves waking up to the hustle and bustle of women carrying metal and plastic buckets as they move around the city most nights and early mornings in search of water.

Water cuts that sometimes last up to three days have become a fact of life in Malawi's commercial hub. And, the parastatal Blantyre Water Board (BWB) -- the city's sole water supplier -- has warned that the cuts are likely to persist until 2013 as it replaces dilapidated water pumps with new equipment.

Businesses in Blantyre have resorted to installing on-site water tanks in an effort to cope with the erratic water supply.

The '2007 Malawi Millennium Development Goal Report' indicates that the country is making good progress towards reaching the MDG target which calls for the reduction by half of the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water. (This target was set under goal seven, which deals with environmental sustainability. In all, eight MDGs were agreed on by global leaders at the U.N. Millennium Summit held in New York, in 2000; the deadline for the goals is 2015.)

The report states that access to water has improved significantly, from slightly over 47 percent in 1992 to 75 percent in 2006. But the state of affairs in Blantyre could overshadow this achievement.

During a recent media tour of BWB's main intake facility at Walker's Ferry on the Shire River in the southern district of Mwanza, superintendent Clive Bismarck explained that transformers have been breaking down at the point where the water is pumped from river to pipeline.

The transformers currently in use were installed in 1963: "The major problem we have is of old age. Our transformers have outlived their lifespan and we need to replace all the transformers to permanently address the water shortages."

Bismarck added that the utility has begun repair operations and the installation of new and improved machinery that will ensure a more reliable water supply for Blantyre.

He said BWB's ability to cope with demand is also being outpaced by the growth of Blantyre. The utility is able to pump 75,000 cubic metres of water daily against a demand for 95,000 cubic metres.

Malawi has emerged as one of the fastest urbanising countries in the world with an urban population growth rate of 6.3 percent compared to 0.5 percent in rural areas, according to the United Nations Centre for Human Settlement.

Persistent water shortages cause city residents to flush their toilets less frequently and to compromise on other basic elements of household hygiene such as dish washing. As a result, unpleasant odours emanate from houses and the risk of water-borne diseases has become a constant problem.

Cholera used to occur mainly in the rainy season when contaminated water entered the distribution system as a result of floods. Now, there are instances of the disease throughout the year, as poor hygiene is conducive to the spread of the Vibrio cholera bacterium.

If left untreated, cholera causes diarrhoea that can lead to kidney failure and death by dehydration within 24 hours. Since the beginning of this year at least eight people have died in a cholera outbreak in areas around Blantyre, which is located in southern Malawi. Up to 291 cases of cholera were reported within a three-week period in the region.

During a severe outbreak in 2002, more than a thousand people died of cholera in Malawi.

The water shortages in Blantyre led to the suspension of BWB Chief Executive Officer Owen Kankhulungo in November last year. A press statement signed by the utility's board chairman, Tarsizius Nampota, said Kankhulungo had been suspended ahead of investigations into the causes of the water shortages.

Before his suspension, Kankhulungo had said that the shortages were a direct result of the water system being both inadequately maintained and over-utilised. He has since been quietly reinstated.

Kankhulungo told Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe during a pre-budget consultation earlier this month that BWB's ability to upgrade the water system is compromised by the taxes it is obliged to pay.

He proposed that the minister waive tax on BWB's imports of equipment for maintenance and expansion, noting that the utility cannot claim back thousands of dollars in duties paid on these goods.

However, the minister has been less than sympathetic to the BWB. Acknowledging that the current tax system does affect the utility, Gondwe said he had little respect for water boards because of their inefficiency.

"Over the past 40 years BWB has not repaired its equipment. BWB has become a nationwide problem. This year my budget will try to answer some of the problems that we have at BWB...but I will be very reluctant to give tax relief."

Amidst this wrangling, many residents have now resorted to using rain water that has collected in ditches.

Those who have cars drive to BWB headquarters where they draw water from taps at the utility's offices.

Azungu, give me MY money!

I wonder how many times I hear little kids say "Azungu (white people including Asians), give me MY money!" everyday... Even 2-year-olds can say this phrase and sadly, it's the ONLY English they seem to know.

Malawi has developmental aids from all the major humanitarian organizations--UN, UNICEF, Save the Children, USAID, SIDA, and so many more. Indeed, it's one of the biggest "aided" countries in Africa. And yet, the problem of poverty, hunger, and diseases still remains here. But WHY?

It's been almost 2 months since I started volunteer work in Malawi. Through everyday interactions with village people, educated teachers and international volunteers, I came to few conclusions in response to my own question.

* Children from uneducated parents will become equally uneducated and will raise more uneducated kids.

* Poor people rely so much on foreign aids and they are passively waiting to be saved. In other words, they don't actively work for things that can be given by somewhere else.

* Women in villages are very suppressed and have no decision making power.

Let me explain these points:

- Education is NOT free in Malawi and many children don't finish schooling (80% don't have high school degree). When you face "survival" and "ensuring food for the day," education does not become your priority, certainly for those who haven't enjoyed and experienced the benefits of education. I cannot remember how many people who approached me to help them with their children's school fee by now. I would love to help them as I know how much education means for their future but if I start supporting one, then I will have to do the same for everyone. And I don't have enough money for that. Obviously, no education means no decent job. And no decent job means no money. Why can't the government make the public education free for all?

- I heard another volunteer from my organization say one of the communities she worked with did not want to build a preschool for their children (provided that she managed to get all the materials donated). The reason was simple: "Oxfam (different NGO) came to other village and built a beautiful preschool. Why do we have to work if they can do it for us?" Another preschool I worked with requested if they could get soy flour instead of maize flour because it "tasted" better. To begin with, the NGO I work with is focusing on sustainable development and community involvement. We don't do relief work of just giving out of materials. Malawi don't need relief work any longer. It's sad to say this but good intention to help the poor can be misinterpreted and even makes them become spoiled. In a way, giving out things can dis-empower people in that they don't learn what they can actually do by themselves.

- In villages in Malawi, if a child gets sick, the mother has no authority to decide to take him/her to hospital. She would always have to ask permission from her husband or someone from his family. Another example: 14+% of Malawian population of which 60+% are women, are infected by HIV. And the transmission is almost always through the male partner as polygamy is openly allowed and practiced. I cannot articulate well but I truly believe in empowerment of women to make the society and world better. When the voices of mothers and women are reflected in society, particularly in politics, I am confident that their society will experience a big difference. Malawi is far from that.

Anyways, these are just my personal opinions about social problems in Malawi. What you might call "food for thoughts" for you. Well, I hope you can take sometime to think about it.

NEW RANKINGS MAKE MALAWI TEST SERIES A CLOSE CALL

MALAWI’S arrival is fast approaching and England are preparing to do battle with the world fifth ranked squad in a triple whammy of matches.

EMILY GARNHAM looks in depth at the netball ranking system, recently introduced by the The International Federation of Netball Associations, to find out how both teams should fare.

Currently ranked third in the world, England should have the upper hand over the Malawi Queens (5th), but it's not that simple.

The new system is the brainchild of David Kendix, who also developed the official team rankings for Test and One Day International Cricket.

One of the important characteristics of the system, similar to cricket’s, is that there is a greater weighting given to more recent matches.

This means the Malawi test series in April will be no 'friendly' clash. The Queens will be playing to win with a view to scale the ranks and earn back the pride England stripped them of in the World Championships.

And IFNA President Molly Rhone says the Federation are working hard to make competition stronger for the top teams.

“Like many sports we must work hard to close the gap between the top few countries and those below them, to generate interest and excitement with new audiences in our events, she said

Yang Jiechi Chairs Opening Ceremony of Malawian Embassy in Beijing

On March 26, 2008, the African country of Malawi opened an embassy in Beijing. Malawian President Bingu Wa Mutharika and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi co-chaired the opening ceremony.

Mutharika said establishing diplomatic relations with China unveiled a new chapter for bilateral relations and is a decision fully supported by all Malawian people.

With the rapid economic and social development, China is playing an increasingly important role in the international arena, said Mutharika, expressing hope that Malawi will carry out cooperation with China in a wide range of areas including economy, trade, technological cooperation and poverty relief. Malawi's president reaffirmed his country's adherence to the one-China policy.

For the Chinese side, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that the establishment of diplomatic relations in last December ushered in a new era of bilateral ties and opened up broad prospects for bilateral cooperation in all areas. Yang said China attaches great importance to ties with Malawi and is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Malawi to push for healthy, stable development of bilateral relations.

China and Malawi officially established diplomatic ties on December 28, 2007. At the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Mutharika arrived in Beijing on March 24, 2008 for a weeklong state visit to China.