CHONGWE RIVER DRIES UP AGAIN!

By MacPherson Mukuka in Lusaka

Effects of Climate change and global warming have continued to pose a huge threat on the welfare of many people in affected areas.

In Zambia, one of the major problems some sections of the country faces is shortage of water, either tap water or natural river water.

This is despite the country sitting on about 60 percent of Southern Africa’s aquifer.

Lusaka’s Chongwe District is one of the areas that have in the recent past faced a series of challenges in as far as water is concerned.

The District has for the last 5 years being grappling with water challenges every dry season despite having enough rainfall in the previous rainy season.

In 2013, the District’s only source of natural water subject for treatment, The Chongwe River completely dried up.

This caused the Water utility firm to start transporting water from the Capital, Lusaka to Chongwe in bowsers just so to mitigate the situation.

The Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company (LWSC) also engaged the Zambia National Service (ZNS) to help mitigate the water problems in Chongwe district.

ZNS was brought on board to dig up the Chongwe River to prevent a reoccurrence of situation in.

Company Spokesperson Topsy Sikalinda then said in an interview that digging of the river was aimed at making it deeper in order to reduce chances of it drying up. 

He expressed optimism that the efforts will bring a lasting solution to the water problem in the district.

He further said ZNS was using bulldozers and earth moving equipment to dig up the ground.

And in 2015, the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company declared its preparedness to address the water shortage which was experienced in Chongwe district during the dry season in the last two years.

Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company acting Marketing and Public Relations Manager Damasake Chibale told said the water utility company had put measures in place to curb the problem.

Mr. Chibale said the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company had put in place both short term and long term measures to resolve the water problem.

He attributed the water problems that had been faced in Chongwe district for the past two dry seasons to poor rainfall and farming activities conducted between that district and Lusaka in which water is being trapped for irrigation by some farmers. 

He added that already, the water problem in Chongwe was normalizing.

Mr. Chibale said the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company has been supplying water to Chongwe using water bowsers as a short term measure to ensure that residents in the area have the commodity adequately.

He said a dedicated pipeline will be put in place as a long term measure. 

Mr. Chibale said physical work on the Kafue-Chongwe pipeline was to start in the second quarter of 2015.

He also said additional water reservoirs, which will receive enough water to supply to Lusaka city and surrounding areas, including Chongwe, will be put in place.

He further said the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company was to start sensitizing its customers on water conservation and usage. 

However, the measures that seemed to be lasting solutions have not worked to the advantage of the water utility company and the residents as the River has dried up again.

This has now prompted the Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company to shut down the Chongwe water treatment plant with immediate effect.

Company Interim Managing Director, MANUEL MUTALE says the decision to shut the plant has been necessitated by the lower water levels and subsequent drying of the Chongwe River.

 Mr. MUTALE said the Company has put up measures to immediately start transporting water by road from Lusaka into Chongwe until the rainy season.

He said the water utility company is working closely with the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit under the office of the Vice President to deal with the matter.

Mr. MUTALE said that the effects of global warming are real and the utility has already put in place measures to mitigate the situation.

He said one of the long term measures being put in place  is drilling of some boreholes about 11 kilometers away from Chongwe town .

Mr. MUTALE said the project is underway and once all required logistics are in place, the well field will be done to mitigate shortage of water during dry seasons in Chongwe district. 

He says the town has no ground water hence adding that it is a challenge to drill boreholes in the area.

Mr. MUTALE has further urged the customers to show responsibility by conserving water during the dry season in order to ease the pressure of increased demand during this period of the year. 

AFRICA DIRECTIONS AND PLAN INTERNATIONAL PARTNERS IN CHILD AND YOUTH FRIENDLY CITIES PROJECT

By MacPherson Mukuka in Lusaka

Africa Directions and Plan International have entered into a three year partnership to run a project called Child and Youth Friendly Cities in advancing children and young people’s rights to the city.

The project will contribute towards achieving one of AD’s strategic direction and directly contribute to realising the 2030 Sustainable development goal number 11: Making cities and human settlement inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

The project is focusing on five cities in Sub Saharan Africa Dakar, Freetown, Harare, Monrovia and Lusaka in order to foster peer exchange among the five African Cities and provide an opportunity for sharing lessons during the period of the project. Africa Directions selected three slums in Lusaka namely Mtendere, Kalikiliki and Chibolya as its target communities for this project.

AD Executive Director Mark Chilongu says his organisation is being a bit ambitious to try and target one of the most dangerous compounds in Lusaka.

He says the organisation wants to try and see how it can contribute to changing lives of most children and young people growing up in an environment like Chibolya as well as advocate for child and youth friendly spaces in the selected compounds.

Mr. Chilongu added that the project is more of an advocacy and not necessarily a humanitarian project.

He said urban youth governance project is going to fight urban child poverty and exclusion by contributing to the development of child and youth friendly cities, where children and young people enjoy their rights and actively shape the urban environment.

He further said that in each of the three compounds in Lusaka, Africa Directions is looking at: Strengthening young people’s participation and influence decision making (Urban Governance) affecting their urban environments, Strengthen urban grassroots youth civil society.

He said the organisation is focusing on three areas because it believes that strong grassroots civil society organisation are essential in taking citizens interests forward with the authorities, private sector stakeholders and other powerholders adding that a united and well-organised civil society can hold the relevant authorities accountable.

Mr. Chilongu has indicated that that project is important because as youth organisation, AD believes that Children and young people have a right to participating in decisions that affect them including decision about how their communities and their development change.

He said young people have strong and creative ideas about how to make their communities better and can be major asset for their own communities and the city as whole.

He added that very often, young people are finding it extremely difficult to participate and be heard in decision making processes.

Mr. Chilongu has however cited bureaucracy as a major hindrance to progress adding that levels of authority and opportunities for participation are unclear, and local authorities and other duty bearers are not always inviting or receptive of young people’s views (Especially girls) due to negative cultural norms.

He said investing in young people and supporting their claim and participation can bring about long lasting and locally relevant improvements–for the sake of the entire community.

He said, with little support, young people can accomplish anything they put their minds to, from community action to improving the physical urban environment, create public spaces, improve garbage collection or child-protection.

The AD Executive Director further stated that there is need to catch them young if meaningful contribution can be attained from the young people.

Mr. Chilongu also expressed his organisation's delight for the partnership with Plan International on the project.
He has also indicated that AD remains grateful to Government's support through the Ministry of Local Government and Housing and the Lusaka City Council who participated during its first stakeholder meeting of the project.

Mr. Chilongu has since pledged AD's continued strategic engagement with Government Ministries during the entire project cycle.

He said AD believes that such grassroots level initiatives should be harnessed more to engage with communities so that every child’s rights are respected.

Source: Mark Chilongu