Vice President Saulos Chilima has told constructors of the Karonga Water Supply and Sanitation project that the May 2022 deadline for the project must be met to ensure that issues of erratic water supply are a thing of the past in the district.
The project aims at rehabilitating and upgrading the existing Karonga Town water supply systems and extend the distribution pipe network to the surrounding areas.
The new initiative follows the failure by current Karonga water supply system to provide reliable water supply and meet demand as it can only provide 12,400 m3 per day, while the current demand is about 16,700 m3/day.
The water supply system at Karonga town currently provides water to 45,776 people against the current estimated population of 97,500 people. It is projected that by the year 2035, Karonga town shall have about 184,000 people.
Earlier the Vice President also visited a Green Belt Initiative called Nthola Illola Ngozi project also poised to transform the district in the irrigation farming landscape.
Upon finalizing the projects inspection, the Vice President – still in his field attire of a khaki field jacket and military trousers matched with military boots – went straight into Reform meetings, taking stock if the Reforms that Karonga and Chitipa councils promised are indeed taking shape.
The Vice President is expected to be in Rumphi on Wednesday then Nkhatabay Thursday.