Blantyre Water Board blames low water pressure on heavy rainfall

January 15, 2015 Harry Chibwe -Nyasa Times 62 Comments

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) says it is currently facing challenges to pump water to Blantyre and surrounding areas largely because of too much debris and mud at its intake point along the Shire River at Walkers Ferry.

Mateyu: Heavy rainfall to blame
Mateyu: Heavy rainfall to blame

The BWB spokesperson Priscilla Mateyu says the situation has also been worsened by constant power failures at Chileka and Mudi pumping stations because of the heavy rainfall.

“Therefore, Blantyre and surrounding areas will experience low pressure or no water at all”.

She is there asking water users to store enough water and use it sparingly.

“The Board is doing everything possible in its capacity to make sure that full production resumes as soon as possible,” says Mateyu.

She however says in the meantime bowsers will be dispatched to deliver water to its customers in all affected areas.

Malawi’s Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services has warned of heavy rainfall and flash floods for the next two to three weeks.

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62 replies on “Blantyre Water Board blames low water pressure on heavy rainfall”

  1. Never entrust authority to women. They are weak minded. Priscilla actually thinks the feeble excuses she’s giving us are making sense. Make sense they do in her small weak mind!

  2. Fuck BWB, ESCOM and their excuses.
    So what’s the long term plan to avoid a repeat of this. Coz I am damn sure this ain’t the last time we will experience rains of that magnitude.

  3. Time for telling lies is over. You cant keep working at water by telling lies. You cant buy time by that. Sooner or later you will tell residences of BT the truth why you are punishing them. TSIKU LA 40 LIKUKWANIRA GUYS. PANGATALIKE. MULIMBA.

  4. Priscilla you are big for nothing. You are educated for nothing. You have showering a lot of lies. You days to lie on this earth planet are numbered which can be counted by even a kindergarten graduate. Watch out. You will see my bib one day. Its you the very same Priscilla who said that water will be available come January. January comes and you have changed your tongue and start using water supply terms like mud and debris. Okey you will see. This was happening in a certain city in South Africa almost ten years ago. It was stopped after people brought bucket of their own stools or bibi and smeared the walls and tables of Priscilla of South Africa. Wait and be aware that Malawians are tired. They will show you pepe one day.All employees will never like their offices there. Keep on playing with minds of your customers. Okey.

  6. They have been failing to pump water even before the heavy rains. That is no excuse> Bvumbwe no water now 3 weeks

  7. Blantyre Water Board is non functional they have turned it into a brothel. Imagine Imagine Andrew Thawe has been sleeping with Christina, Aggie, Kattie,Ruth,Walu (now she left for KCN) Try and the list goes on. He has employed his incompetent relatives into infinfluential positions and the Comptroller of statutory cooperations is letting him continue with his mismanagement. We, residents of blantyre are suffering. The comptroller Has to go now.

  10. Blantyre Water Board, achina Andrew Thawe, Mavuto Chiipanthenga, Ruth Thindwa ntchito kunyengana basi. Onani ntchito ikukanikani. Kulemberana ntchito pachibale ndi mahule anu basi. We are fed up with you guys. Bwana President can you shake up BWB management it looks like they have nothing to offer to this nation. Please replace them they are taking us for granted these illogical and dull people. Why are we hearing this trush about BWB on daily basis? I think this is the worst performing parastatal in Malawi. I will get surprised with the government renews the contracts of these stupid guys. Replace them please we are fed up. You mean we don’t have people who can replace them? Eeish my foot. Why is that trush happening at BWB is not happening in other water boards. Find out . What have you done with money from European Investment Bank, World Bank through National Water Development Programme 2. Now Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) how far have you gone with corruption investigation about Blantyre Water Board involving their CEO, Andrew Thawe and his lieutenants? We need results. It is high time these people they have to face the long arm of law. Why should we let the few individuals to make Blantyre residents suffer? Do u know money they were stealing is a loan from World Bank and European Investment Bank to be repaid by Malawian tax payers? We are tired with your excuses which underground you are stealing from us.

  13. Do you really think properly hw can u blame the rain?? Kodi simudziwa kuti each and every year timakhala ndi rain season???? Inu ndi anzanu a escom u r useless,hopeless….etc, mmene akulira ma company anuwo zoona mungamakhale opanda ma longterm plans?? hw can u blame natural disasters…we r fed up

  14. Nthawi ya dzuwa mumati no water coz of low levels of water, pano mukuti no water coz of too much water!

    Mitu yanu!

  15. Mukititola kupusa tsopano bodza limenelo?madzi anuwo anayamba kuvuta mvula isanayambe what rubbish are you talking about.ngati zakuvutani siyani ntchito kunyezima kunkhopeko nkumati madzi kwanu kulibe iwe opousa zedi stupid

  17. This company has for the longest time hired civil engineers as CEOs the reasons behind are things like these. Civil engineers are supposed to have well read in college on matters to do with earth movements and siltation. Mr CEO it’s time your knowledge become handy

  18. I thought u said the problem was electricity now ur blaming weather condition .Then when will we close this problem of water in BT .

  19. In August last year when there was no rain, BWB was blaming the cleaning of tanks. In October 2014 BWB was blaming burst pipe around HHI. In December this year, BWB was blaming pipe wash away on Nasolo river. Now it is debris.
    BWB has always known that Shire river bring debris during rainy season. But we always had water come rain or sunshine in the past.
    The truth is that these new “educated” managers have no brains to manage s complex system of systems. Let us just bring back expatriates to sort out our failed country. Otherwise nothing works in Malawi these days.

  20. Guys come to think of it, having a forum on radio or television to discuss some of these issues like water and electricity shortages, nac gate, poor governance, cashgate and what we can do to improve malawi
    Because I have observed we write good ideas on nyasatimes just like comments or aobs, imagine having a program on TV invite the service providers officials or our dirty politicians to discuss one by one on different issues affecting our life
    Personally I think our lives can change because we are not even sure whether the concerned parties sits down, read and meditate on our brilliant ideas, mukuona bwanji we can write too much here but them not changing their operating mode
    Love you all

  21. Water board is excellent when it comes to giving excuses but very dull to implement the know ledge of their masters degrees, even mulungu Pena amatiseka kuti a malawi ndinawapatsa madzi ochuluka and yet madzi mmanyumba amasiya daily, it is not true to have water shortages when we have so many water sources madzi akusefukira Mu shire and yet we are failing to transfer a portion of it into our homes Eee a malawi anzanga ine ndatopa nazo yet we have people with phds,masters degrees at water board. Ayi ndithu anzanga
    Ku Israel anapatutsa madzi 350 kilometers away pano amamwa madzi a bwino, irrigation and others kuno tikulephera kupatutsa madzi 30 to 90 kilometers meaning shire to blantyre and lake malawi salima to lilongwe respectively.
    Ku nkhotakota the lake is just 2 kilometers away from the boma but madzi amasiya daily, a malawi tinakhala bwanji Ma chief executives ntchito yawo ndikupanga long term strategic plans and not kunyenga Ma secretary as it is the case here in malawi
    Innovation ikufuna kenaka tidzakutoperani

  22. chitsilu cha mayi akuganiza kuti titanino tizikatunga ku mudi , ku likhubula , ku nasolo , ku naperi ‘ kulimbe ndi mitsinje ina m’ blantyremu ? Beautiful face with augly heart

  26. More excuses. Shame they can’t just do the job they are employed to do. Why not quit and let someone who can do the job

  27. Inuyo ndi zitsiru kwambiri. I mean you the BWB are so nosense and stupid. What happened during those dry days? Always extuses.

  30. If companies want to win the trust of the people they should have the right person as its Spokesperson. Somebody with unquestionable character as regards morals. Yes a beautiful face is a good requirement but one with an upright standing both before God and people.. I read n article in one of the papers by our lady. She was giving advice to the young girls on how they can make good use of the bounty sugar daddies give them. I was shocked to hear someone encouraging the vice. Later on read she is a spokesperson for BWB. I wondered which sugar dad paid her way to that post. I wonder if she’s is different altogether from what she wrote. After that she was all out castigating the holier than thous especially born again She scared me from that time I no longer read her articles n fear for the young girls who still do. But water is life so we still have to read.

  33. It’s high time government consider piped water from Mulanje mountain to Blantyre and other parts in the south.

  35. It’s not a curse, let thy will be done and Malawi is there to pray extra harder for those who are affected for such disaster.

  37. Blantyre Water Board why every time we have water problems in Blantyre you always push a blame on somebody. Please learn to accept your failures so that other knowledgeable people should assist you instead of letting us in this vicious cycle. Do you really have engineers there? I was checking your website and looking your Senior Management I looks like you don’t have Water Engineers at that level. I think the people I see there are civil engineering graduates from Polytechnic of which in their syllabus there is very little they do on issues to do with water engineering. Can you try to employ Malawians who have water engineering degrees from other universities? Otherwise Polytechnic engineers are letting us down. Zikuoneka kuti akumangoloweza just to pass exams they do not know the stuff. I also think its high time we do not need the Engineer to be at the helm of that organisation. Can you employ somebody who has very good leadership and management skills to lead that organisation? What is your planning department doing? Do you have it or not? We you don’t haver please have one which can do things which will help us because it looks like you do not plan you guys. So iwe Priscilla Mateyu please stop that blame game once for all

  38. Are you sure you did not know there would be debris? With all the Engineers we have we can not overcome this? Why is this only in Malawi do we have our own engineering different from others? Be realistic and act

  39. Mmmmmmm? BWB, Dont hide behind the rains. BWB has not operated at full capacity for decades during summer, autumn or winter. Zobisalira ku mvula lekerani other service providers if any at all.
    Remember Nkondiwa said recently service providers who fail to provide the service they are mandated to provide are providing poor services and its not acceptable.

  40. ASAAAAA…..DONT BOTHER TO EXPLAIN YOURSELVES BWB….WE ARE SOOOO USED TO HARDSHIPS MS MATEYU.SO USED THAT WE USE THE SAME RAIN WATER THAT IS KILLING OUR BROTHERS IN THE LOWER SHIRE TO DRINK. BY THE WAY….YOU LOOK BETTER WITHOUT LIP STICK MS MATEYU….WILL YOU MARRY ME?

  41. B4 they rains blame was on illegal connections and the lyk, come come rains blame is on rainfall, mvula.ikatha l hope blame will be ….no water becos the rains r ova…Malawians oweys full of excuses

  42. What right conditions does BWB want for it to produce adequate water for the residents of Blantyre and beyond? When there is a dry spell she complains, at the same when nature has given it enough water she complains. May be what this organisation needs are engineers who think outside the BOX in other words who are very innovative and not womanizers and those who want to get rich quickly at the expense of their organisation. I rest my case.

  43. Ntchito zopatsano pa chilongo zotsatila zake ndizimenezi. It should be obvious to any engineer that Shire would be breaking banks every time heavy rains fall especially in the southern region and that trash would come with it. Protecting the pumping area properly is a must. In fact engineers during Bandas time recommended a barrage at lionde to control flooding downstream. But you dogs wouldn’t know that. Now because of flooding water is contaminated with debris and water borne diseases.The only safe water is tap water which is not available. Government gone to the dogs and every devil agent is pissing on us for being docile. In the 70s as a kid I never thought that tap water can stop running and I never heard the word black out. The first time I heard it in the 90 I didn’t know what it meant. That’s how well things were done those days before we allowed matelala matchona ndi a mayi a mandazi kuti ayendetse Boma.Lero times manyi athu omwe mmizindamu

  44. Met Dept ndiya boss. They never forewarned us before these devastating rains now they have the capacity to predict that it will take three weeks. Aboza inu.

  46. Blantyre Water Board! One lame excuse after another! If its not power failure then its too much son shine or too much rain. Too much for Blantyre residents. BWB is ever in the news for all bad things.
    The so called spokesperson should by now be thoroughly ashamed.

  47. we are tired of excuses. today you this tomorrow that.tatopa.remember the last time you said it was the chief executive officer and he was removed now you say rainfall.mind you one day we wanna come there and take all your positions by force.sikuti sitingathe kugwira nthito zimene.we employ you to give us a service of which we pay for.why all these nonsense.mateyu think before you come to us.its three months now since we stoped receivin water here ku sunnyside.

  50. Mavuto achuluka let’s find alternative ways like using the rain water from the roofs to use it for domestic use.

  51. What were u xpecting? this’s rain season, every sane person knows that. thats a rediculo

    Shameless xcuse, just lucky that a malawi ndi opusa

  52. Am not interested in u putting the picture of Priscilla Mateyu, show us pictures of how we r suffering without water, she has water in her house. BWB what next 4 us.?

  53. Koma timavuto tinaliponso kale because its so long we have been hearing about water problem in blantyre- long term solution needed.

  54. Those of us who have travelled from Blantyre to Muloza in Mulanje we see river sources down the spurs of Mulanje mountain. And Mulanje is not that far from Blantyre but nobody sees that opportunity which can be an alternative source of water. In psychology such mindset is called ‘function fixedness.’That’s why there is a saying which goes like this,”No matter how many resources one has but if he does know how to harness them he can’t achieve anything”

  56. It’s only in Malawi where nature dictates humanity and not the other way round. Kodi ndimayesa kuti mudapita ku school ndicholinga choti mudzikhala ndi strategic thinking? Mphwephwa zenizeni.That’s why in Malawi when there is no rainfall reliability it means famine yet a natural body of water stretches from the northern to the southern tips of the country . A country of baboons who only enjoy hefty packages but with no outputs.

  57. Inu ndi choncho. Kapito tenga manyi ako kamupake Mateyu. Akuwoneka kuti sakuwopa iwe kapito kuti umayenda ndi manyi mu thumba

  59. It’s amazing that everytime BWB find an excuse which they think will convince the general public,but we know they can’t deliver,they are incompetence.

  60. Confused idiots, at first the water pressure issues were due to dried Mudi, heavy rain has come, water is there in abundance, mukuti izi zikupangitsa kuti musapope madzi, you are very sick!!!

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