Potable water access improves in Blantyre
Water for People senior programme manager Thokozani Kaitane has said access to potable water in Blantyre has improved to 91.6 percent from 86.6 percent in 2023.
He disclosed this on Monday in Blantyre during the organisation’s annual reflection workshop which attracted various stakeholders in the water and sanitation sector.
In an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, Kaitane attributed the improvement to collective action in the sector, but still emphasised on the need to accelerate efforts to ensure everyone has access to potable water.
He said: “The level of water service has improved significantly. We know that last year we had so many challenges mainly emanating from Cyclone Freddy, but then this did not act as a hindrance and all sector players put in effort to ensure that potable water access is accelerated.”
Kaitane further attributed the improvement in potable water access to service providers’ commitment to make it available even in the remotest areas.
Blantyre City Council Mayor Wild Ndipo in a separate interview described the improvement as tremendous, especially considering how Cyclone Freddy affected water infrastructure.
“So, having this improvement is a plus to us. In essence, we need to have a potable water supply and we need to have healthy people,” he said.
Ndipo expressed optimism that if this will remain the case in the foregoing, Blantyre City will be a better place for the residents.
The workshop provided a platform where Water for People together with its partners deliberated on progress being on water supply and availability.
