Following the declaration of Cholera as a pandemic, the Ministry of Water came up with a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) cluster response plan comprising a number of activities such as provision of safe water supply and chlorine for treating water.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Sanitation Elias Chimulambe says government institutions like water boards and district councils are working together in ensuring that all hotspots have access to safe water and sanitation services.

With the prevailing Cholera outbreak, about K82 million in arrears which the water kiosks owe Water boards have been suspended to ensure people can still access clean water.

Water boards have been ordered to open all public kiosks immediately whether they have bills or not and those lacking capacity to buy tokens for prepaid meters, will be supported with advance tokens.

“We are providing support to public kiosks to open all public kiosks whether they have bills or no bills, those kiosks are supposed to be opened immediately. Wherever they are if they are not opened, we are telling all the kiosks to be opened by water boards. All the kiosks that do not have capacity to buy tokens for prepaid meters; water boards are going to provide support to help them with advanced tokens,” he disclosed.

For all schools in Blantyre and Lilongwe which will open on 17th January, the Ministry will give chlorine to disinfect all sanitation facilities and water supplies connected to water boards while broken boreholes will be maintained to ensure improved access to safe water.

The PS also called for a mindset change among individuals to help in checking further transmission of the disease.

“Our individual behaviours matter quite a lot in the Cholera prevention; some other people they are shunning water board water and go to unprotected shallow wells; these shallow wells they’re very close to pit latrines. It means they’re drinking contaminated water so it’s a behavior issue”.