The Ministry of Water and Sanitation has asked water boards to connect schools, hospitals and other communal water points disconnected for defaulting payment of water bills to avert further spread of cholera.

Minister of Water and Sanitation Abida Mia said this yesterday in Salima where she toured Central Region Water Board (CRWB) projects and also appreciated challenges that people are facing in accessing clean water.

She said: “Clean water is crucial in the fight against cholera. It is disappointing that a number of people are consuming untreated water which puts their lives at risk.”

The minister said water boards have been asked to connect all schools, health facilities and communal water points that were disconnected due to unpaid bills.

“A number of schools and hospitals and people have been failing to settle bills so we have called on water boards to put on hold the bills for schools and hospitals and connect them,” said Mia.

Mia being briefed at one of the communal water points in Salima

She stressed that government will ensure that water boards collect money from other institutions that owe them huge sums of money so that the boards are able to keep supplying water.

Besides huge unpaid water bills by government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that hovered around K23 billion last year, water boards also lose K30 billion annually to non-revenue water, have huge electricity bills and face increasing cost of production.

But Mia said the government is looking at ways of recovering such debts to ease operational pressure.

CRWB chairperson Edison Mombera said the board has already started reconnecting schools and other communal water points that were disconnected.

He said CRWB is committed to help fight cholera to ensure that more Malawians have access to clean water.

“As a board we have also planned a number of water projects to ensure that more people are connected,” said Mombera.

He appealed for government support for 12 projects that require K700 billion.

The board’s chief executive officer John Makwenda also said the board will ensure that schools, health facilities and communal water points are connected to fight cholera and other waterborne diseases.

“Health facilities and other communal water points are being connected for free and the board has also put in place flexible terms on which outstanding bills can be settled,” he said.

As of yesterday, Malawi had registered 33 608 cholera cases and 1 093 deaths.

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