By Chihalo Kamanga

Karonga, August 18, Mana: The National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) has challenged local authorities to be proactive in ensuring that people have sustainable potable water as one of the means of preventing waterborne related diseases.

Spokesperson for NWRA, Masozi Kasambara, made the remarks, Thursday during the authority’s engagement meeting with members of Karonga District Council.

Kasambara said a survey which the authority conducted in the cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba revealed that 75 percent of 44 sample boreholes are contaminated.

He said the revelation have necessitated the authority to immediately embark on sensitisation on the significance of quality water.

“We therefore call on communities and authorities to ensure that boreholes that were drilled without undergoing registration to register with NWRA so that we reduce cases of waterborne diseases that come through   contaminated water,” Kasambara said.

He also advised local authorities to be checking quality and legality of water abstraction points to reduce the authority’s work load.

Karonga District Coordinator for Malawi Red Cross Society, Reuben Malemia said that the society is already rehabilitating some boreholes in the district and that they will take advantage of the exercise to establish registered and none registered boreholes.

NWRA is a government entity that is mandated among other functions to issue licences to borehole drillers and constructors and regulate water suppliers such as the all water utility bodies in the country.