Town, market centres water supply launched
Malawi President Joyce Banda on Monday 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 Banda during the launch at Malosa in Zomba.
“The sector has direct linkages with key sectors of the Economic Recovery Plan (ERP), 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 realisation of the country’s economic recovery plan,” Banda said.
The President said a number of donors and development partners have pooled their resources together under the project amounting to K150 billion ($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.
The Government of Australia provided a grant of K4.6 billion ($14 million) through the Australian Agency for International Development.
These resources from Australian Agency for International Development are channelled through National Water Development Project (NWDP) and coordinated by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
