On a sweltering afternoon, two men climb corroded steel rungs to check whether three massive tanks at Dyeratu Primary School in Chikwawa District are supplying safe water to the learners, teachers and surrounding community.
The locals are worried about their health and well-being following a toxic spill from PressCane Limited’s waste ponds in January.
From the lofty climb, they pull the piping from tanks and rub off tar-like smears from the conduits’ mouths.
“Can you see this!” exclaims a dejected Lovemore Jambo, raising an index finger to show the sticky, blackish smear from the plastic pipes. “We rubbed off more of the same just four days ago.”
Locals say the smear from water pipes starkly resembles the foul-smelling spill of the acidic wastewater that overflowed into their homes, farmlands and waterways—scorching crops, trees, shrubs and grass in its way.
“Water is life,” says Patrick January, 60, from Lauji Village in the district. “We need independent assessments as we increasingly see these impurities even at a communal borehole, about 200 metres from PressCanes’s waste ponds.”
Headteacher Jackford Jeremiah says he is not confident that over 2 500 learners, 39 teachers and villages near Dyeratu Primary School are getting safe water.
“The water from the taps looks pure, but how do you explain the sight of blackish smears and brownish stuff in the plastic pipes?” he asks.
Chikwawa District Council installed the solar-powered water supply system in 2021 with support from Unicef to end fierce scrambles for erratic but costly piped water in the community dotted with hand pumps that supply saline water.
Pollution runs deep
Women in the neighbourhood say they often see black impurities once the seemingly clean water from the communal taps settles.
It appears that the pollution that forced the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) to fine PressCane K40 million runs deep, endangering the environment and human health.
However, the authority reports that “the groundwater source indicated conformity to standards” despite the pollution scandal also compelled Malawi Environmental Protection Agency (Mepa) to suspend PressCane operations pending remedial interventions.
The locals decried the delayed State response to nearly two decades of industrial waste spills.
The National Water Resources Act of 2013 birthed NRWA to protect the country’s water resources.
On January 20, the authority tested samples from Dyeratu Primary School, Mthumba River, PressCane’s waste ponds and spillover drains.
In February, The Nation asked the regulator about the severity of pollution, which justified the fine locals find laughable for a multibillion-kwacha business with government shares.
Replied NRWA chief executive officer Dwight Kambuku, now suspended: “Based on our inspection, the effluent spillages from PressCane’s evaporation ponds present a serious risk to both surface water and groundwater resources in the surrounding communities.
“The spills were observed spreading into the surrounding environment, including drainage lines that can connect to streams, wetlands, agricultural fields and shallow groundwater systems.”
He revealed that onsite tests showed that the dammed ethanol waste had “very elevated dissolved solids, high acidity, and depleted dissolved oxygen, indicating high pollution”.
Similarly, water quality tests in the Mnthumba River, where locals reported seeing dead fish floating shortly after the spill, indicated “possible pollution upstream”. The wetland along the riverbank has also been left too toxic for production of rice, millet, sorghum and cotton.
However, the regulator said tests “did not establish the presence of tar-like impurities from the school’s groundwater source, which “conformed to standards”.
NRWA promised to conduct further investigation to ascertain the allegations. But it indicated that only “definitive results from comprehensive laboratory analysis” by the Central Water Laboratory in Lilongwe can confirm the full extent of environmental and public health impacts.
“However, the observed conditions, particularly uncontrolled effluent overflow following rainfall, do not conform to sustainable and safe use of water resources. This required immediate regulatory intervention,” said Kambuku.
NWRA has suspended PressCane’s effluent discharge permit and ordered the company to stop releasing its wastewater pending corrective measures.
It has also ordered the polluter to clean up, rehabilitate and restore polluted water sources at its own cost.
“The raw effluent spills into the environment is a major concern because it threatens the quality of water resources that we are mandated to protect. The preliminary findings indicate conditions that can pose risks to the aquatic ecosystem and public health with exposure,” says Kambuku.
‘Protect people’
Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy executive director Herbert Mwalukomo asks government to ensure the polluter urgently compensates and cleans up affected communities—a task delaying PressCane restart amid intensifying talks.
He states: “The scandal shows the reality of how business activities affect the environment and public health.
“This interaction shows why it is important for authorities to protect people and biodiversity from harmful practices. Government needs to constantly inspect and audit if companies are adhering to their environmental and social impact management plans.”
