MPs fury as Hippo View Lodge discharge their sewage into Shire River

Hippo View Lodge and Shire Lodge, which belong to Siku Group of Companies and situated along Shire River in Liwonde, discharge their sewage in the river, about 20 meters away from where the Southern Region Water Board (SRWB) pumps water for its customers, Nyasa Times understands.

This has attracted mixed reactions with some people wondering how the facilities could be allowed to operate with sewer system ending in the Shire River, thereby polluting the its waters.

It is also believed that communities in Liwonde and surrounding area have been drinking contaminated water.

The development compelled the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and government officials, mainly from the Department of Tourism inspect the facilities on Saturday to appreciate the situation.

The Committee gave the Department of Tourism until Monday, October 2 2017 to provide them with a report on the matter.

Siku Group of Companies, also owns Sun and Sand Holiday Resort in the Lake Shore district Mangochi.

Chairperson for Committee Welani Chilenga told public broadcaster MBC to have personally seen the discharge when he visited one of the lodges recently.

While owners of the facilities refuted the claims, spokespersons for SRWB, MacDonald Phiri, confirmed in an interview monitored on public broadcaster that the utility body is aware of the development and that they once reported it to the Department of Tourism way back, but nothing has happened.

In July this year, similar situation was experienced in Area 18 in Lilongwe where residents consumed sewer contaminated water.

The Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) described the 18 Area sewer contamination water saga as one of the many incidents happenig in the country.

Cama Executive Director John Kapito urged water service providers to have  monitoring and inspection systems to ensure and guarantee safety of their customers.