Mulanje residents threaten to sabotage water project
A grouping of Mulanje residents which christened itself Citizens for the Protection of Mulanje Mountain (CPM) has made a fresh call for the government to stop the ambitious K13 billion Blantyre City potable water supply project.
This is Blantyre Water Board Mulanje Mountain water tapping project which President Peter Mutharika is passionate about.
CPM Secretary General, David Majeweta, said the grouping is disappointed that instead of replenishing the mountain which is in sorry state, they are thinking of tapping the already depleted water.
“During a recent rally in Thyolo, President Mutharika said the project is starting anytime soon. But we are surprised and disappointed that the government is going ahead with the project before addressing the issue of degradation which has affected the amount of water coming out of the mountain.
“We want to meet and remind them before the project starts, otherwise people are angry with decision to tap water from this almost dry mountain,” Majeweta said.
He said the residents, who also stopped Springstone Limited from doing its mining projects in the mountain, are not supposed to be taken for granted.
The grouping then asked for a meeting with government officials.
Government spokesperson, Patricia Kaliati, said the government is focusing on improving the lives of many people not some individuals.
Kaliati said those people who were designing the project did the assessment and found that there is enough water in the mountain and there is no need for some people to press a panic button.
“We are targeting a lot of people who need clean water and the government could not just come up with such a project without looking at the impact. If they have any issues, they can even come to my house and we can talk. I am from Mulanje myself and my house is always open for people with such grievances. Let them come and we discuss,” Kaliati said.
She said the government already deployed soldiers into the mountain apart from taking other tree planting steps to ensure that the mountain wears trees.
The fight for the control of Mulanje Mountain between Mulanje Mountain Conservation Trust and the group, which initially called itself Mulanje Concerned Citizens, went malevolent and made some needless headlines in 2014.
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