Access to potable water down 28%
Access to safe and affordable drinking water in the country dropped by 28 percent over the past five years, research has revealed.
The revelation, by a survey conducted by non-governmental organisation (NGO) Pump Aid, raises fears that Malawi may not achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal number six which compels governments to achieve 100 percent access by 2030.
Speaking after presenting the findings at a dissemination of innovations and lessons learnt in the water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) sector in Lilongwe on Tuesday, Pump Aid acting country director, Tiyese Mwale, said only 84 percent of Malawians have access to modern water facilities such as boreholes.
He said: “And this is largely due to the fact that 30 percent of the boreholes have broken down and remain unrepaired for months. The other challenge is lack of resources among beneficiary communities to rehabilitate the broken-down boreholes.”
Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Allan Chiyembekeza said some NGOs have contributed to the downward spiral through drilling less durable boreholes.
“And the sad part is that they put the responsibility of rehabilitating these boreholes on beneficiaries who usually have no expertise, let alone resources for repairing them,” he said.
