The borehole rehabilitation project being undertaken by the Pacific Limited in Machinga has given hope of winning against the cholera epidemic fight in the district.

The district is the epicentre of the current cholera epidemic which broke out in March 2022 and has so far claimed over 1700 lives.

 

Traditional Authority (TA) Mlomba of the district said his area has limited access to piped water a development which forces people to scramble for the commodity in the few boreholes.

 

"This made others to resort to fetch the water in streams a development which must have escalated the cholera cases in the area,” said TA  Mlomba.

 

He made the remarks on the sidelines of the pacific borehole rehabilitation project which has repaired about 43 boreholes in Machinga Central East constituency.

 

Team leader for the Pacific borehole rehabilitation project Abdul Majeed Allie said having fixed the boreholes for free in Machinga Central East constituency they have now shifted to Machinga Likwenu where they are expected to fix other 60 boreholes. 

 

Machinga Central East Parliamentarian, Daudi Chikwanje while describing the gesture as timely, has called for an upward adjustment of the borehole fund currently at around K12 Million.

 

The lawmaker argues that the suggestion will assist in timely fixing of broken boreholes.

 

However, responding to the calls for the adjustment of the borehole fund , Ministry of Water and Sanitation Spokesperson James Daire said there is need for a collaborative approach if the suggestions is to be implemented as  issues of borehole fund were decentralised.

 

Pacific Limited has been fixing boreholes for free in different regions of the country since 2015 as part of its corporate social responsibility. Members of Parliament in constituencies get involved and are part of the planning and identification of broken and defunct boreholes in their respective areas with Pacific limited team.

 

So far Pacific has fixed over 7,000 boreholes across Malawi.