Africa-Press – Malawi. The Southern Region Water Board has acquired 38 standby diesel generators at K598 million to provide backup power during blackouts. SRWB Chief Executive Officer Duncan Chambamba disclosed this in Lilongwe when Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation John Bande received the gensets from the supplier.
Chambamba said the gensets would help the board provide water to its customers even during power blackouts. He was quick to note that the diesel generators will not drive up water tariffs for SRWB customers.
“Of course the cheaper option would have been solar but it was expensive. We are still making steps towards that direction but, in the meantime, we thought of buying the diesel generators,” Chambamba said.
In his remarks, Bande hailed SRWB for making sure that there are no interruptions to water supply during power hiccups. Bande also hailed President Lazarus Chakwera for linking up with Mozambique to operationalise the Malawi- Mozambique interconnector which would help provide power at all times.
“Water is life. Government is committed to ensuring that Malawians have water at all times.
“Just this month, we started free water connections. It doesn’t make sense to connect people when there is no water. As such, we would like Malawians to enjoy access to water at all times,” Bande said. SRWB is the largest water service provider in the southern part of Malawi.
Established as a parastatal in 1995 under the Waterworks Act Cap 72:01, the board officially launched its operations on May 1 1998 inheriting its infrastructure from the then District Water Supply Fund of the Ministry of works, Supplies and Water Supply in the Southern Region.
Today, SRWB operates over 30 treatment stations, has 26 supply areas and serves a customer base of over 60,000 comprised of commercial customers, individual customers, communal water points customers and institutions.
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