Mulanje for open defecation free by 2017

Efforts to make Mulanje District an open defecation- free area by 2017 are on course with the rolling out of a Plan Malawi run project in all traditional authorities (T/As) in the district.

Plan Malawi country director Lilly Omondi over the weekend, encouraged chiefs, district council officials and other community leaders in Mulanje on the importance of maintaining sanitation standards.

“Traditional leaders have made a commitment that they will ensure their communities are open defecation free by, among others, civic educating their subjects on the dangers of open defecation. As we speak, there has been steady progress across the district to make us believe we will meet our targets,” Omondi said.

Plan Malawi Wash programme manager Thoko Kaitane said his organisation was building capacity for communities in the district to construct low cost toilets using modern technology.

During the meeting, Senior Chief Mwadzama of Nkhotakota, whose area was declared an open defecation free zone courtesy of a similar project, encouraged his fellow traditional leaders to engage an extra gear to ensure positive results are registered.

“We developed some by- laws that we used to punish those who did not comply. Following that, every household in my villages has a toilet and a hand-washing facility which are used effectively,” he said. n