By Chisomo Phiri
Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Elias Chimulambe says the government is working on improving the Non-Revenue Water (NRW) because there are a lot of challenges such as aging infrastructure, leakages and inefficiencies in water networks that disrupt the supplying of safe and reliable water to the citizens.
He made the remarks on Tuesday when he opened a five days training workshop organised by African Water and Sanitation Association (AFWASA) in collaboration with Lilongwe Water Board (LWB) taking place at Bingu International Convention Center (BICC) in Lilongwe.
Chimulambe indicated that the water sector loses millions because of the NRW resources, and hoped that the training program will give a chance to the experts to discuss the issue and come up with solutions.
“The Percentage of NRW in the country are higher between 35-45 percent depending on the particular Water Board but as Ministry we want to have at-least 20 percent of the NRW, so this training will help to ensure that solutions are being developed,” he said.
In his Remarks, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for LWB who is also Vice President for AFWASA, Sili Mbewe, expressed gratitude to all stakeholders taking part in the training observing that the ideas shared will help to improve water networks in the country.
He said access to clean water is a fundamental human right so it is important to address the challenges and enhance the overall management of water networks.
“The matter of potable water does not only affect our country but the whole Africa, that is why we want to share experiences with other countries on how we can end the issue of NRW,” Mbewe said.
The training involves experts from Ghana, Malawi, Uganda and Côte d’Ivoire.
