By Blackson Mkupatira
Chiradzulu, April 17, Mana: Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) has expressed concern over increased vandalism and theft of critical water infrastructure at its project sites in Chiradzulu District.
Speaking earlier in the week during a community engagement meeting at Traditional Authority Onga headquarters, SRWB Chiradzulu Water Supply Project Officer Emmanuel Chifuniro said the board was losing a lot of resources to replace stolen and vandalized equipment such as electricity transformers and water system components.
“Our core mandate is to supply clean water to people. To achieve this, we are implementing various water supply projects across the country, including here in Chiradzulu.
“However, we are not making progress here because of rampant theft and vandalism of vital equipment. For example, this area does not have electricity, so we installed a transformer to support the water project,” he added.
SRWB further pointed out that on a number of occasions, it replaced stolen equipment, but to no success, as theft and vandalism continued.
“Unfortunately, the transformer was stolen. We replaced it, and it was stolen again just days later. This not only delays implementation but also drains our resources,” Chifuniro added.
He disclosed that the water supply project, which is being financed internally by SRWB, has already seen over K600 million invested, hence appealed to community members to take ownership and safeguard the development project.
“We urge all residents to help protect our equipment. Without your cooperation, it's difficult to finalize the project,” Chifuniro said, expressing hope that bringing electricity and water supply will transform the area socio-economically on top of promoting good hygiene practices.
Commenting on the matter, Chiradzulu District Council Water Development Officer, Macpherson Kuseli, said despite the district achieving a 97 percent access to potable water, vandalism remains a major threat to water service delivery.
“Once this project is complete, it will benefit many households and public institutions such as Chiradzulu District Hospital and surrounding health centres. This is why we need to come together and address these challenges,” Kuseli said.
While welcoming the development, Group Village Head Onga stressed the importance of involving the communities from the onset of a project and advised SRWB to consider hiring well-trained and competent security personnel to protect the infrastructure.
“We were not consulted when the project began, so people didn’t understand its importance. Now that you have involved us, we will take a leading role in ensuring its protection,” said Onga.
Chairperson for Chiradzulu District Community Policing Forum, Adamson Luvelo, assured SRWB officials that the forum and other community-level policing structures will work in collaboration with the police and surrounding communities to protect project equipment.
The meeting brought together officials from the Chiradzulu District Council, magistrates, police in the district, SRWB officials, local leaders, community policing members, and community members from traditional authorities Mpama and Onga.
