K75bn water, sanitation project rolls out in Lilongwe

Lilongwe City Council (LCC) and Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) have rolled out a $102 million (about K75.2 billion) Lilongwe Water Supply and Sanitation project.

The project follows the completion of a sanitation master plan and water supply designs, implementing partners LCC and LWB told journalists on Wednesday during an awareness workshop for community leaders in Lilongwe.

The project’s monitoring and evaluation specialist Zex Kalipali said the project will solve the bottlenecks the city has been facing in  terms of water supply and improve sanitation.

“The project will see the expansion of water supply for about 210 kilometres (km) to other areas lacking clean water,” he said.

On the sewage network, Kalipali said the project will upgrade the Kauma Sewage Treatment Area and expand its network by 107 km, construct modern latrines in schools, markets and other business places.

LCC chief executive officer John Chome said the city is growing, but half of Lilongwe’s population of one million still uses pit latrines.

“Sanitation is a big issue in Lilongwe. As the city grows, we also need to grow our infrastructure and services. This project will address the backlogs in terms of sanitation and water supply,” he said.

The project, expected to benefit about 500 000 people, is funded by the World Bank and Malawi government which put in $2 million (about K1.4 billion).