‘In all 3 Pillars of MW2063 vision, sustainable water resources remain a prerequisite’

* Sustainable water resources for all is achievable only if stakeholders such as editors and media managers regard water as life

* The significance of the media in any set up cannot be overstressed, as they are a peg on which success or failure of any institution hangs

By Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express & Memory Chatonda, MANA

The MW2063, the country’s long-term development blueprint, hinges on three Pillars of Urbanisation, Industrialisation and Agriculture Productivity & Commercialisation — and in all these pillars, sustainable water resources remain a prerequisite.

This was emphasised by National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) Chief Executive Officer, Dwight Kambuku on Monday at an interface with editors and media managers from various media institutions — that that deliberated efforts that would change people’s mindset on issues around water resources management in the country.

He stressed that “sustainable water resources for all is achievable only if stakeholders such as editors and media managers regard water as life”, while adding that the significance of the media “in any set up cannot be overstressed, as they are a peg on which success or failure of any institution hangs”.

He added that the prime objective of the engagement was twofold — to share notes on how best the two stakeholders can sustainably manage and regulate water resources as well as to emphasise on “the need to jointly implement strategies of averting any water related catastrophe among the citizenry”.

He quoted prominent American Buddhist teacher, Lama Surya Das, who wisely reminds the world that; ‘No one knows everything. No one knows nothing. Everyone knows something and everyone can learn something from everyone else’.

Simply put, said Kambuku, “we are because you are, and you are because we are” — thus the interface to remind each other of NWRA’s core mandate of managing and regulating water resources in Malawi, to ensure that there is its sustainable and effective use.

“It is for this reason that we ask for your support. Help us persuade the citizenry towards involvement in matters of managing water resources and avoidance of any water related catastrophe,” he said.

He disclosed that in their operations, NWRA has penalised some district councils and companies who have been contravening Water Resource Act such as enforcing the regulations no one is allowed to drill a borehole without obtaining a license from the authority — or to extract water from the rivers for irrigation or domestic use; for generation of hydro-electric power and discharging effluent into water bodies without any permit.

“So, those that were penalised, in a big way they violated these conditions as captured in the Water Resource Act of 2013 and also the regulation of 2018,” he said, adding that some of the councils that have been penalised include Zomba, Lilongwe and also Mount Meru.

Early this year, the Authority made headlines, when it was rumoured that it closed all the 14 gates at the Kamuzu Barrage in Liwonde, leading to flooding upstream following the increased levels of Lake Malawi.

The public was wrongly informed that the Lake had overflooded but Kambuku reiterated that what was experienced in the lakeshore areas during the current hydrological year, “was not even flooding.

“The fact of the matter is that the lake has been reclaiming its territory, after some people had encroached the space,” he said and during a presentation, engineer Toney Nyasulu said that the Authority will be enhancing enforcement of Water Resources Regulation 129.

Part 2 of the Regulation is that; ‘A person shall not cultivate or undertake any development activities within a minimum of 15m from the highest ever or 100 year flood level or as may be determined by the Authority from time to time, on either side of the river’.

Part 3; ‘A person shall not carry out any activity below the 477 metres above sea level (masl) contour line along Lake Malawi, that is likely to have adverse impacts on the Lake, without a licence issued in accordance with the Act’.

The CEO also said they will soon share with the media some weather projections that are indicating that the country could have worse water-related catastrophe for encroachers on the buffer zones of Lake Malawi and rivers in the next hydrological year.

“This comes in the wake of a forecast that water Levels on Lake Malawi could be higher than it has been in the current hydrological year — but we will be sharing a detailed account of this in a press conference that we will be convening soon.”

Kambuku thus reiterated that NWRA regards the interaction with the media as resonating well with the MW2063, “since it focuses on jointly contributing towards achieving country’s long-term development blueprint”.

“NWRA realises the power that the media has to change people’s mindset. It is for this reason that we ask for your support to change the people’s mind set on issues revolving around water resources management.

“I am aware of the threefold mandate of the media which is to educate, entertain and inform. My humble plea is let’s add one more critical mandate which is persuasion.  Help us to persuade the citizenry towards involvement in matters of managing water resources and avoidance of any water related catastrophe.

“This interaction must not be misconstrued as a mere ritual, but rather an indelible mark and renewed commitment towards water resources management,” he said adding that as an indicator of their great value for the media, they have the desire to support Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Malawi Chapter’s annual media awards for the Best Journalist Award in the Water Resources Management category.

He disclosed that in the run up to the May’s World Press Freedom Day commemoration, NWRA has planned a huge prize money for such award but it was not implemented due to communication breakdown or lack of it at the eleventh hour — “but this desire keeps on growing in us”.

The Authority is also in talks with a grouping under water, sanitation & health (WASH) media forum to do likewise with the Association of Environmental Journalists (AEJ).

However, Kambuku pointed out that their efforts “will be in vain if editors and media managers do not regard water resources articles and programmes as a priority. This interaction is a cognizance of the pivotal role that the media has in changing the mindset of the citizenry on water resources management issues.”

On the part of the media managers, secretary general for Malawi Editors Forum, Gracian Tukula described the meeting as crucial in ensuring they understand better the mandate of the NWRA for them to ably disseminate messages to the masses to save life and property.

“Water is life because we cannot talk about sustainable life without water,” he said. “Therefore, this interaction is of paramount importance and it remains our responsibility to use the information we have gathered regarding to water resource management for publication through different platforms.”

NWRA was established by the Act of Parliament in 2013 and it became operational in 2019 and among other things, the Authority is mandated to control, regulate, conserve and license use of water resources.

The licensing of water resources is also to prevent polluting water resources and to manage the water resources for posterity (future generation) — with emphasis that “water belongs to the State”.

Specific offences include:

* Discharge of wastewater without NWRA permit;

* Abstraction of water without authorisation from NWRA;

* Contravening rights after suspension, variation or diminution of the right;

* Prevention, obstruction or refusal of entry on land (denying access) to NWRA inspectors or agents; and

* Failure to comply with any condition in the Water Resources Regulations, expressly or implied.

Any person who contravenes this Act and any other written law shall be guilty of an offence, whose fines are in the ranges of MK1 million to MK10 million; imprisonment of 4-10 years as well as administrative punishments such as written warning and remedy.