Eastern Region Prisons commanding officer Thom Ntute has commended the installation of a solar-powered water system at Mikuyu I Prison in Zomba, saying it will help improve hygiene and irrigation farming at the facility.
He said this on Wednesday when Gift of the Givers Foundation handed over a K31 million water supply system to support irrigation farming at the facility.
Ntute said the prison has been facing sanitation and hygiene challenges due to congestion.
“The facility will access sufficient water for its activities. We thank Gift of the Givers for the initiative,” he said.
Ntute said the Malawi Prison Service is running irrigation farming at Mpyupyu Prison, as such, it will extend the same to Mikuyu I Prison.
Gift of the Givers Foundation project engineer Mayamiko Sailesi said the initiative signifies commitment to ensure access to safe water as well as ensuring food security.
“Mikuyu I Prison was facing many challenges as far as water is concerned. So when they asked us for help, we thought it was wise to support,” he said.
Sailesi expressed the foundation’s commitment to continue supporting the prison with farm inputs as well as monitoring the project.
The foundation also donated 22 bags of fertiliser, seven bottles of pesticides, seven packets of vegetable seeds, herbicides and fungicides.
