Involve women to combat Shire River siltation—Wolrec

Women’s Legal Re­source Centre (Wolrec) has called on authorities in Ntcheu to empower women economically as one way of combating en­vironmental degradation.

Wolrec assistant pro­ject officer Lomathin­da Mtema said this at Ntcheu District Council hall when her organisa­tion launched an environ­mental conservation pro­gramme in the district.

Mtema expressed con­cern over charcoal mak­ing which she said is most common in some parts of Ntcheu South and was a major contrib­uting factor to siltation in Shire River.

She said: “This can be avoided if women in the area are civic-educated on the disadvantages of the business and empower them with alternative in­come sources which are environmentally friend­ly.”

She said her organ­isation decided to im­plement the project in Ntcheu because there are many rivers in the district which are part of Shire River catchment area.

“Shire River is the main source of the country’s hydro-power, so our aim is to protect the river and the starting point should be the protection of small rivers and streams that are tributaries of Livilidzi River, which is a tributary of Shire River,” said Mte­ma.

The programme, which is funded to the tune of K238 million by Millenni­um Challenge Account, is expected to run for three years in Ntcheu and Bala­ka districts in traditional authorities Phambala and Kalembo respectively. —Mana