Mutharika appoints taskforce to investigate Lilongwe sewage horror in 14 days
President Peter Mutharika has instituted a six-member task-force to investigate the water contamination incident that occurred in Area 18 in Lilongwe in July when some residents had sewage-filled water flowing from their taps.
Mutharika has appointed Chief Director in the Office of President and Cabinet, Rexie Chiluzi to chair the task-force with deputy Director of administration (OPC), Victor Sandikonda to man the secretariat.
Other members in the task-force are Modesta Kanjaye, Director of Water in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development; Chief State Advocate in the Ministry of Justice, Pacharo Kayira; Director of Local Government Service in the Ministry of Local Government, Sphiwe Mauwa, and Dr. Magret Kabuluzi who is Director of Preventive Health Services in the Ministry of Health.
The President has given the civil service-led team 14 days to come up with its findings.
Malawi Institute of Engineers (Central Region Chapter) has since offered to give advice and expertise to institutions dealing with sanitation.
Meanwhile, residents of Area 18 are demanding a K2 million each compensation for drinking the contaminated water.
Recently, Parliament faulted Malawi Housing Corporation a(MHC) for the incident which affected over 200 people.
MHC and LCC are the ones who manage the sewer system in the area which, according to the residents, overflows very often but the two institutions are failing to rectify the situation despite recent water contamination incident.
Lilongwe Water Board Chief Executive officer (CEO) Engineer Alfonso Chikuni said recently his institution was not responsible for the sewer leakage mess which is putting lives of Area 18 residents at risk of contracting waterborne diseases such as cholera and other bacterial infections.
Chikuni argued that as the situation stands, LWB has been left with no option and is considering shutting down water supply in the area until the sewer problem is rectified.
On Tuesday 18th July area was affected by water contamination due to sewer overflow that sipped into the water pipes and LWB has been working on rectifying the problem by, among other initiatives, disinfecting the its supply system in the area to ensure the pipes are thorough clean and it is currently replacing the old pipe network with new one.
LWB resumed supply of clean water to the area after cleaning the affected system and has since assured the customers that the water is safe and fit for human consumption.
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Too little too late!!! Mr President we don’t need a task force to tell us what we already know. The fact remains that Malawians in Area 18 have been exposed to the most outrages disasters imaginable and this administration is clueless as to how to deal with it They are treating it as business as usual there is no urgency!!!! Dzuka Malawi Dzuka pililani abale anga 2019 sipatali
This president always operates behind schedule
Rules, Regulations, Police ACB etc are there to control (punish) the poor (common people). Which commission of enquiry has benefited Malawians so far? Any way Taskforce members, I would like to urge you to thank the President for giving you an opportunity to cash-gate in style (Professional way). The main issue here is sleep. Malawians are sleepy people. Here is the evidence: (1) DPP rigged the elections and funding has been a problem. A solution was made to siphon public funds through taxes to run the government. Is it not happening? Who is suffering/punished, is it the thieves or the… Read more »
I don’t see this Task Force producing any tangible results. The problem is that the management of these institutions are well connected with the ruling party and any results that may fault them will not be made public.
Kodi A President mwadzuka? Kugona bwanji? Too late for such an enquiry. A Malawi, tiri ndi president wa tulo zedi. A ndunanso a tulo. too little too late.
spot on
“LWB resumed supply of clean water to the area after cleaning the affected system and has since assured the customers that the water is safe and fit for human consumption.”
THE WATER ISN’T CLEAN AT ALL TESTS HAVE BEEN MADE AND PROVED THAT THE WATER IS STILL NOT SAFE FOR DRINKING…
Thanks for the committee however its a bit late ..
How many long overdue commission reports are you waiting for Mr President?…….. Answer me before commissioning more
The facts are people drank sewer period. The best approach the president should have done before commissioing an enquiry was to suspend the leaderships at lwb, lcc, and MHC tt inlcudes chief xecutives as well as engineers. The water supplier (lwb) too is responsible for the mess, how were their water systems compromised? While the commission is enquiring has government taken an initiate to monitor and ensure good health of the affected area residents? How about kuwagaila chroline to help then purify water in this time of doubt n uncertenity? Hard to trust these public service providers can’t take word… Read more »