By Linda likomwa

Phalombe, June 24, Mana: Phalombe District Council will soon start the K154 million rehabilitation works on Sombani, and Phalombe Minor Water Schemes which were heavily damaged by Tropical Cyclone Freddy induced rains in March 2023.

The 90 days project work is funded by World Bank under Region Climate Resilient Programme (RCRP) through National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC).

District Commissioner Douglas Moffat disclosed this recently, saying the damage affected provision of water services to communities in the district.

“In this project we are going to expand conveyer pipes from the current 110 to 200 milliliters to make sure that the water tank has adequate water to supply to both Southern Region Water Board and Phalombe Minor systems,” said Moffat.

The District Commissioner added that government has pumped in a lot of money to the project which is expected to supply water for the targeted communities in the next 40 years hence need for the council and chiefs to sign an agreement to protect the water resource at Michesi Mountain where people cut trees for charcoal production, fire wood while some encroach to open land for farming.

Traditional Authority Mkhumba expressed her gratitude over commencement of the rehabilitation works on Phalombe Scheme, saying that by the end of rehabilitation works, people in her area will have access to portable water closer to their homes and was optimistic that water-borne diseases will also be prevented.

She therefore assured the council of continuous sensitization on protection of forests at Michesi Mountain, saying all those that opened farm land in the protected forest area will be taken to task so as to stop the encroachment.

Phalombe Minor, Water Users Association (WUA) Local Utility Operator, Peter Chiotcha said by the end of the rehabilitation work 8,000 households will benefit from the portable water supply.

“Currently we have 3,540 households that are benefiting, but some get the water in the afternoon while others are supplied with water during evening hours. Out of 786 pipes that were installed less than 200 are working,” he disclosed.

He therefore asked government to consider funding rehabilitation of Phalombe Major Water Scheme which is also in bad condition to reach out to the larger community with portable water.