Minister of Natural Resources Patricia Wiskes has said Malawi will soon begin receiving reliable real-time weather information through a weather radar currently under construction at Kasamba Hills in Mdeka, Blantyre.
Speaking on Friday after touring the construction site, Wiskes said the facility will enhance the country’s ability to forecast real-time weather conditions and help government and communities prepare for climate-related disasters.
“We have been losing a lot of money because we were taken unawares by extreme weather events. However, with the coming of a weather radar, we will be able to get climate-related information in real time, which we will then use to dispatch to respective communities,” she said.
Once operational, the radar will be capable of detecting weather patterns within a 250-kilometre radius in all directions.
Meanwhile, the minister said the government has secured funding from development partners for the construction of a second weather radar in the Central Region.
She said: “We are already receiving financial support from development cooperating partners to install a second radar in the Central Region. However, there still remains a financial gap for installation of a similar radar in the Northern Region.”
Site engineer for the project, Isaac Saint from E-Trading Corporation, said the project includes the construction of a radar tower, a server room, access roads, and supporting security infrastructure.
He said the project expects to complete the project within three months and two weeks, subject to funding flows.
The weather radar project forms part of efforts to strengthen Malawi’s preparedness for floods, cyclones, droughts and other climate-related hazards that have increasingly affected the country in recent years.
