By Ernest Mfunya

Mangochi, August 8, Mana. Minister of Tourism, Vera Kamtukule, on Wednesday handed over two newly constructed staff houses to rangers at Lake Malawi National Park in Monkey Bay, Mangochi.

The houses, have been constructed under the Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) with funds from the World Bank.

Speaking during the handover, Kamtukule urged rangers to take good care of the houses as they are a significant asset to improving their welfare.

“Regard these houses as your own not government’s. I want to see these houses in good condition when I come again in the next six months.

“It is not government which will suffer once they are in bad state. You will have to look for accommodation outside the park once the houses become inhabitable and this will be an inconvenience and expensive on your part,” said Kamtukule.

The Minister pledged government’s commitment to providing rangers with good accommodation saying more houses will be constructed in line with the Malawi 2063 enabler on human capital.

She, therefore, hailed MWASIP and the World Bank for supporting her ministry, through the Department of National Parks and Wildlife, to construct modern houses for the rangers.

MWASIP Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Team member, James Kumwenda, commended the Department of National Parks and Wildlife for prudently utilizing the Performance Based Grants saying it is in line with the project’s objective.

MWASIP provides Performance Based Grants amounting to US$3 million to institutions that focus much on watershed management.

“We have three national level institutions namely; Department of National Parks and Wildlife, Department of Forestry and National Water Resources Authority. We also provide grants to local authorities within the project impact area.

“Department of National Parks and Wildlife triggered the grant after fulfilling performance based indicators measured annually using a scorecard,” Kumwenda said.

Councilor Martin Milanzi, who represented Chairperson for Mangochi District Council, said construction of the houses was a significant and timely move, anticipating that the houses will motivate the rangers to be dedicated to their duty of patrolling the park since they will be residing within the park.

Milanzi has since asked government, through Ministry of Tourism, to construct more houses for the rangers saying deployment of additional rangers in the protected area will intensify patrols to prevent people from illegal fishing and destroying the forest in the park.

Lake Malawi National Park is the world’s first fresh water national park and a world heritage site which is home to rare fish species.