Authority to assess illegal water systems
The National Water Resource Authority (NWRA) says it will conduct assessment on illegal water supply systems such as boreholes under the Northern Region Water Board (NRWB).
In a statement NWRA released yesterday signed by its spokesperson Masozi Kasambala, the initiative is expected to start on September 18 2023 in preparation for a nationwide shutdown exercise of illegal water abstraction points that shall not have been legalised by the Authority by November 24 2023.
The statement reads in part:“The NWRA, which is mandated to manage and regulate water resources in Malawi is informing the general public that it will undertake an assessment of illegal water supply systems such as boreholes under the NRWB supply area.

“The exercise comes in the wake of an influx of illegal water supply systems in water board gazetted areas, where the supply of water is supposed to be exclusively done by a particular water board.”
The statement further says during the exercise, which will be jointly conducted by NWRA and NRWB, there will be a review of conditions under which licences were issued to ascertain if water rights should still hold or not.
In an interview, Kasambala said the authority is excited with the overwhelming response from stakeholders who want to regularise their water sources.
Dechagos Construction Company managing director James Chagoma expressed worry with the timing of the enforcement of the law.
He said it was tricky as government failed to sink boreholes in some hard-to-reach areas and it is churches or non-governmental organisations that drilled boreholes for the people.
“I think the authority could be lenient enough by giving the consumers alternative source of water while pondering on how best to treat the old boreholes that are said to have been sunk in unhealthy sites,” he said.