Malawi’s water crisis: 7,000 households grappling for one borehole in Salima North-West Constituency.
There is only one borehole.
This is one of the typical examples on how the water shortage has reached crisis proportions in the country after 53 years of the Malawi’s independent.
The Maravi Post’s visit to the area on Sunday.
While at Matumba, Traditional Authority (T.A) Nkhombedza, this reporter encountered the ordeal of women and young girls who wait for up to six hours to draw water from the lone borehole.
The borehole, which was constructed about two decades ago, still remains the hope for the communities, despite it’s on-and-off operations, to serve the villagers.
This situation prompted Water Mission and Christian Services, local faith organizations, to respond to the crisis by fixing the oldest borehole.
The organizations planned to drill five extra boreholes, in a bid to solve the water and sanitation challenges this community grapples with.
Various interviews with members of the communities, reveal the shocking escalation of social ills due to the scarcity of safe clean water, among them high school drop outs, early and child marriages, marital fights, and water-borne diseases.
“With the water crisis hitting hard in most local communities, the best thing is for Government to allocate more resources in the CDF.