Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Nancy Tembo unveils the Plan
* The Strategic Plan is to counter increasing social and economic challenges the organisation is facing
* Due to urbanisation and the hostile economic operating environment—Board chairperson
* BWB to increase water tariffs in April 2022 by 10% to meet the demands of providing safe water services
By Lydia Maganga, MANA
Blantyre Water Board (BWB) currently owes Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) about K24 billion as outstanding water pumping tariffs which it is failing to honour.
This was disclosed on Monday by BWB Board chairperson, George Mnesa when the utility service provider launched a 5-year Strategic Plan (2020-2025), which aims at providing best services to residents within Blantyre City and surrounding areas.
Mnesa said they decided to launch the Plan to counter increasing social and economic challenges the organisation is facing due to urbanisation and the hostile economic operating environment.
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“We do not have enough [funds] to cover our monthly bills and at the moment, we owe ESCOM K24 billion accumulated in a space of two years.
“We have asked government to help up settle this bill so that we can be operational and pay the monthly bills properly,” he said, adding that they are working tirelessly to reduce electricity bills by building their own solar plant.
He also revealed that BWB wants to have a new pipeline from a new source of water from Nkula so that they can double the capacity and be able to meet the growing demand of water in the next five years.
Mnesa then made another revelation that BWB will increase water tariffs in April 2022 by 10% to be able to meet the demands of providing safe water and quality services to its customers.
Guest of honour at the launch, Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources Nancy Tembo said the issue of raising water tariffs should not be a focus point, but rather making sure that the services being offered are satisfactory.
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She said BWB should also work hard in improving its infrastructure so that they meet the demands of the Malawi Vision 2063 which calls for improved water infrastructure development.
“BWB is the oldest water body in the country, established in 1929 and you cannot expect the old same infrastructure to be operational now. We are now trying to find finances to help them replace these broken pipes,” she said.
On bailing out BWB, the minister said the matter is in the hands of the Ministry of Finance, but her Ministry is currently focusing on helping the water board to reduce its electricity bill.
CAMA executive director John Kapito attended the ceremony
Last week, Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA) appealed to Water Boards customers to form Water User Groups in their communities to be used as a platform to demand better water delivery services.
CAMA has made the stance following recent water scarcity in Blantyre coming “at a time when water tariffs have just been increased and water consumers are expecting to see an improvement in water delivery services”.
CAMA Executive Director, John Kapito disclosed that they engaged with Water Boards across the country where it emphasized that “the consumer should be at the center of Water Boards operations and that they must change the way they handle and treat consumers”.
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“We are also appealing to Blantyre Water Board to change their poor customer care service attitude and ensure that their main mandate is to supply water to residence of Blantyre. We expect to see water bowsers in all parts of Blantyre where there is scarcity of water immediately.”
CAMA observes that “it is disheartening and painful for Blantyre residents who continue to have no running water in their homes and some have to travel long distances to rivers and get unsafe and unhygienic water”.
“Blantyre Water Board has just signed a Service Level Agreement with consumers and we expected them to ensure adherence to such commitments.
“Blantyre Water Board has promised among the many commitments to attend to consumers’ complaints within 10 minutes at any customer service center. It is sad that already the institution is unable to attend to any single complaint.
“Blantyre Water Board seems to think they are above Board and they have for a long time treated consumers as a bunch of worthless and ignorant people — which is unfortunate.”
Blantyre continues to have incessant dry past for the past few months, forcing many residents to include huge water reservoirs while many include such reservoirs in their budgets when constructing homes.
Also last week, the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) applauded Northern Region Water Board for its solar energy system project, which will see the board saving K16 million monthly.
PAC chairperson Shadrick Namalomba said this when his committee toured some projects which are being implemented by the Water Board in Mzuzu and Nkhata Bay.
“This is very wonderful project as it will reduce electricity bills almost by half — from K32 million to K16 million per month,” he said.
The Water Board had lobbied Parliament for approval of funds meant for new projects — thus the tour of the sites by PAC where Namalomba assured the Board of PAC’s support, saying “so long those projects deliver positive results to the people of Malawi”.
Solar energy initiative by Northern Region Water Board
“We see that Northern Region Water Board is a typical example of a team of professionals that is working towards delivering a service to Malawians and we want to encourage them.”
He urged the Civil Service and all government institutions to emulate what is Northern Region Water Board is doing — citing in particularly Southern Region Water Board, Blantyre Water Board, Central Region Water Board and Lilongwe Water Board — to emulate and learn good such practices.
Northern Region Water Board’s chief executive officer, Titus Mthegha described the project as the first of its kind in the country in which they are spending 2.6 million Euros.
“Once it is completed we will save about of money we normally pay Escom just to supply water in Mzuzu City and Ekwendeni,” he said.
Recently, Escom disconnected Northern Region Water Board due to unsettled electricity bills, a development that led to lack of water in a number of townships in Mzuzu City.—Additional reporting by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
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