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Cut the talk, go for action
It sounds all good to hear government challenge that it has a better and more ambitious target regarding access to clean water than the internationally agreed target of halving the population of people without potable water by 2015. It shows that government cares for its people and can creatively solve its problems independent of global benchmarks.
But the pledge sounds too familiar to be taken seriously. Over the last decade or so we have heard pledges of more boreholes, and while there have been convincing statistics on how many water points were introduced, the reality is that there has been slower progress in people’s lives than portrayed.
Having a borehole is one thing but making sure that it is providing safe water for a long period is another. Most of the boreholes that have been drilled in the country are not functional because some communities are not able to maintain them properly and the result is that people have gone back to unsafe sources of water.
As noted by the Human Development Report, water-borne diseases continue to trouble many Malawians every year and that is a sign that we have a lot of work to do before we can begin to feel we can beat the Millennium Development Goals or achieve them ahead of time.
One hopes government will move away from make-believe statements and concentrate on tangible action that translates into a clear improvement in the living standards of its people.
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