SRWB needs K500m to construct a new water intake pump house at Liwonde’s Kamuzu Barrage to address flood-induced challenges

Rising water of the Shire River in Liwonde

* The opening of the water exit gates at the barrage would further affect their operations and even other institutions downstream

* Thus the need of the half a billion kwacha to maintain its pumping system at Liwonde barrage, owing to rising water levels in Shire River

Maravi Express

Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) needs K500m to construct a new water intake pump house at Kamuzu Barrage in Liwonde, the Board’s chairperson, Brown Mpinganjira told Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources & Climate Change on Saturday.

Media reports by Malawi Broadcasting Station (MBC) and ZBSNews quoted Mpinganjira as saying the new pump house will be erected at a high distance to avoid further impact of swelling of the Shire River in the coming years, which has already submerged the Board’s initial control unit, affecting its centrifugal pumps and the control pumps in the process.

Mpinganjira further said the opening of the water exit gates at the barrage would further affect their operations and even other institutions downstream — thus the need of the half a billion kwacha to maintain its pumping system at Liwonde barrage, owing to rising water levels in Shire River.

The media reports indicate that the Parliamentary Committee’s chairperson, Welani Chilenga gave an assurance that they will lobby finance authorities to assist SRWB.

Chilenga, while commending SRWB’s efforts in supplying water to its customers amid the impact of the rising water, faulted some lodge owners in Mangochi amd Liwonde for allegedly by-passing the water board’s system as others owe the board bills of up to K4 billion, which he says would have assisted in several projects.

According to SRWB, the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources & Climate Change toured the Liwonde intake to appreciate the Board’s incentives towards sustaining uninterrupted water supply amid the challenge of rising water levels in the Shire river.

“Although the intake has been affected by flood waters we are lucky, because we are able to continue supplying water to Liwonde and surrounding areas,” SRWB quotes its Board chairperson Mpinganjira as saying.