NGO to construct earth bag houses in Karonga

A Rumphi based local Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Loncha Development Centre has put aside K18 million to bailout the flood victims in Karonga by constructing flood resistant houses in the affected areas houses using earth bags .

The Centre, has invested close to K18 Million from a Germany based ‘Support Malawi Organization’ in order to support over 100 flood affected households in the area of Traditional Authority Kilupula with flood resilient houses for two years.

Close to 800 houses were demolished by heavy rains that occurred from March 28 to April 3 this year in Karonga, leaving 5500 families homeless.

Speaking during the launch of the project, Moya Walita, the organization executive director said most of the houses tend to collapse during the time of floods particularly because they are built with materials that are not strong.

According to Walita, the beneficiaries will be paying a small  fee in the revolving fund.

‘‘We discovered that year in and out, a number of houses are demolished by floods in Karonga due to the weak construction materials. As such, we thought of supporting some of the families with houses that are made of earth bags, and the beneficially will be paying a small revolving fund,’’ said Walita.

Chairperson for Support Malawi Organization, Heinrich Wegener said apart from the fact that earth bag houses are resilient to flooding, the houses are also friendly to environment.

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