George G Mhango
April 19, 2013
Malawi President Joyce Banda has launched the Water Supply Initiative under the Town and Market Centres Water Supply and Sanitation Project that will contribute to government’s policy of reducing poverty through improved and sustainable public health and environment.
The project will be implemented in seven market centres of Malosa in Zomba; Nkando in Mulanje; Ntaja and Nsanama in Machinga; and Nathenje, Kasiya and Nsalu in Lilongwe.
It will also help meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets for Water and Sanitation said President Banda during the launch at Malosa in Zomba District.
President Banda reiterated that water development remains an important sector in the socio-economic development of Malawi.
“The sector has direct linkages with key sectors of the Economic Recovery Plan, including energy, mining, industrial development, health, education and agriculture through irrigation, access to drinking water, generation of electricity and sanitation. In this respect, the sector is vital in the realization of the country’s economic recovery plan,” she said.
The President said government is implementing the National Water Development Programme through five components of Urban Water Supply and Sanitation; Town and Market Centres Water Supply and Sanitation; Rural Water Supply and Sanitation; Water Resources Development and Management; and Sector Management and Capacity Building.
The NWDP is an initiative that aims at addressing water and sanitary challenges that the country is facing. It is a step towards the Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) who main aim is to implement projects through pooled human and financial resources among others to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in the water and sanitary sector.
The President said a number of donors and development partners have pooled their resources together under the NWDP amounting to K150 billion (US$360.54 million).
The project aims at developing sustainable water supply, sanitation and hygiene service delivery in the seven market centres and the surrounding villages within a distance of 2.5 kilometers from the respective centres.
President Banda thanked the Government of Australia for providing a grant of K4.6 billion (US$14 million) through the Australian Agency for International Development.
These resources from Australian Agency for International Development are channeled through National Water Development Programme and coordinated by the African Development Bank (ADB).