By Yamikani Yapuwa

Blantyre, July 27, Mana: Minister of Water and Sanitation Abida Mia said the Thyolo District Strategic Investment Plan (DSIP) for Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) would greatly promote coordination and harmonization of WASH sector investments in the district.

She made the remarks on Thursday in Blantyre when launching the plan noting that the DSIP is a vehicle for ensuring that the aspirations for both international and national development strategies for the WASH sector are prioritized and implemented in a more effective and efficient way.

 “It is very exciting that Thyolo District Council has now a written, agreed WASH plan document, but that is not the end, the finishing of the WASH plan document is the start of the journey.

“Therefore, beyond just planning, together we must ensure that WASH plan is marketed and operationalized,” Mia said.

In order to ensure that the DSIP is operational, the Minister called upon the district council to make sure that everyone knows about the plan and has access to it and ensure that all actors are aligned to it.

“Let me request the council and all partners to also ensure that potential funders are approached and have committed, also make sure that the DSIP is monitored and is reviewed annually with all stakeholders for accountability.

“Further, the council should also make sure that the DSIP is updated and the plan is used to influence annual operations and budgeting,” she explained.

Mia urged all district councils to emulate what Thyolo has done saying it shows that the council was committed to ensuring that people in the district have access to portable water, sanitation and hygiene.

United Purpose WASH Programme Manager, Smorden Tomoka stressed the need for all partners to show commitment towards operationalizing the plan and go beyond.

“Learning from others, the DSIP has built-in mechanism to maintain focus on the district plan through a market plan and annual reviews by the district to reflect on progress of implementation and document lessons for sharing and up scaling,” he said.

Tomoka added that the organization would continue with its capacity support to the council as they operationalize the plan in order to contribute towards achieving Sustainable and Resilient WASH services by 2027 and beyond.

District Commissioner (DC) for Thyolo, Rosemary Nawasha said their vision was to ensure that the council was able to sustainably provide basic access to potable water, sanitation and hygiene services to all by 2027.

“The district has an estimated population of 747,086. Currently, total number of water points is at 3,632 and out of this number, only 1,991 water points are functional. In view of this situation, 61,086 people have no access to potable water.

“The district has 136,081 latrines of all types against 179,698 households representing coverage of 75.7 percent out of which a total of 47,601 latrines had drop hole covers, representing 27 percent. Further in the district, 27,752 latrines have hand washing facilities with soap, representing 16 percent of the latrines,” she stated

Nawasha indicated that the WASH plan seeks to mobilize K7.4 billion to guide investments and actions in WASH areas and currently United Purpose has pumped in K300 million.