Achirombo On Wednesday

Malawi intensifies search for gold, diamond
Malawi has intensified the search for gold and diamond in a latest bid to prop up its agro-based economy.
The country depends largely on agriculture, which contributes over 60 per cent to the national economy. But tobacco, its highest foreign exchange earner faces an uncertain future in the face of a global onslaught against the health hazards associated with smoking.
Price instability for other strategic crops such as cotton, tea and maize have also meant diminished returns for impoverished farmers, prompting government to experiment with new viable forms of economic spinning.
Leonard Kalindekafe, Director for the country’s Geological Surveys Department, said mineral exploration offered the next best alternative for Malawi.
“Mineral exploration can contribute significantly towards economic development for Malawi. That is why we have intensified the search for gold and diamond. There are strong possibilities that we have these precious minerals in the country, and what was remaining has been exploration,” said Kalindekafe.
He said the department has started drilling for diamond and gold, a process he said would take as long as six to one year to bring results.
“We have started exploration works for diamond in Mangochi. So far, we have extracted some substantial amount of Kimberlitic stones. These are the stones that contain diamond, though it is not always the case that you will get the diamond,” he said.
While drilling works for diamond have already started in the Southern Malawi district of Mangochi, exploration works for gold have also started in Neno district, another Southern region district.
The works are taking place at a former blitz mine.
Malawi has a variety of mineral resources. Some of which include bauxite and uranium.
Uranium mining has already started at Kayerekera in the Northern Malawi district of Karonga. Paladin Africa, an Australian company carrying out the works, announced last month uranium exportation would start between September and October this year.
Grain Malunga, Malawi’s Energy and Mines Minister, is thrilled with the prospects of Malawi becoming a uranium exporter.
“It is such a great thing to happen to Malawi. We will be making an average US$10 million from uranium exportation every year,” said Malunga.
President Bingu wa Mutharika has called for more investments in the country’s mining sector.

EU hands over hospital wards
The European Union Micro-projects programme has donated two hospital wards to Chonde Health Centre in Mulanje district.
Mulanje, a district in Southern Malawi, is one of the country’s highly populated areas. However, access to medical facilities remains one of the biggest challenges as infrastructural inadequacies and a lope-sized doctor-to-patient ratio conspire to make life too expensive for community members, most of whom live below US$1 a day.
Isaac Munro, National Coordinator for EU Micro-projects Programme, asked community members to take good care of the infrastructure.
He said vandalism of donated property discouraged other well-wishers, a development that meant increased deaths from preventable diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.
The facilities are worth K23 million.
We are happy to contribute towards Malawi’s health system. Improving access to health will play a great role in helping developing countries meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Munro.
Health is one of the priority areas in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, the current development blue print for Malawi.
The EU Micro-projects Programme started working in Malawi in 1995, and has gone through four phases highlighting various areas of development priorities.
The Fifth phase starts next year.
Member of Parliament for the area, Education Minister George Chaponda, hailed the EU for contributing towards the country’s social-economic development.
“The good thing about EU Micro-projects Programme is that it does not force initiatives on people; it involves them in all processes, from project design to implementation,” said Chaponda.

Bushfires threaten govt. plantations
Ridiculous. A worker at Raiply Plantations in Northern Malawi is not happy with the way his boss nagged him for making some careless mistake; he wears the robe of darkness and goes on rampage, setting part of the plantation ablaze!
Another plantation worker quarrels with another over food at lunch- the other worker has eaten more than his fair portion of collective lunch, and things go asunder. The offended party sets part of the plantation ablaze as part of his anger-healing process.
It is Monday, September 28, 2009. Pay day.
The bosses delay payment by one more day and the workers, incensed, raze part of the plantation.
Anyone sacked from the plantation is sure to vent their anger on the plantation as well, and that has always been the striking fate of Vipya Plantations, government tree plantations concessioned to privately-owned Raiply.
Just last year, 300 hectares of forest went up in flames under similar circumstances, and this has angered Raiply Chief Executive Officer Thomas Comen.
“The cost for such behaviour is huge. These bushfires are destroying a lot of biological diversity in the plantation, apart from causing huge losses of money because we cannot sell trees that have been badly burnt for timber purposes,” said Comen.
Comen said cases of burning plantations were becoming common place, largely perpetuated by the angry employee, sacked worker, disgruntled community member, clueless hunter, and cigarette smoker.
“The situation is really bad. It takes 30 years a raise a tree, but only uncontrollable anger to go back to square-one. Why destroy something that has taken up more resources in a single sweep of anger, frustrating the country’s economic prospects?” he queried.
Comen said, however, Raiply was doing it can to bring sanity where anger reigns, and has established new grievous handling mechanisms to bring sanity home.
“We want everyone to report their grievances. This way, we will be able to resolve all grievances amicably, and in a way that does not bring destruction to the forests and losses to the company. Communities must own up to the fact that the plantations, in a way, belong to them. They will bear the brunt of climatic changes arising from distortions in weather patterns emanating from the effects of destroying the plantations,” said Comen.
Daulosi Mauambeta, Executive Director for the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi (Wesm), blames community ignorance for the trend. He said most community members were still unaware of the effects of destroying natural resources even in face of tangible climatic changes taking place around us.
“People even think that climatic change is a Western phenomenon that has nothing to do with us. The truth is that the changes are here with us, and may not be reversed should we continue with our old ways. We need to change people’s attitudes,” said Mauambeta.
Traditional Authority Karonga, one of the prominent chiefs in Northern Malawi, where Vipya is located, has vowed to mete out strong punishments to people who cause bush fires and destroy the environment willy-nilly.
“These resources are not for us but our children. Anyone who punishes an unborn child will surely be punished heavily. Setting Vipya ablaze is like killing the unborn child and I will not tolerate that,” said Karonga.
Government has for the past two years increased budgetary allocations to natural resources and environmental management, raising hopes that, perhaps, what remains of Malawi’s environment and natural resources may not be lost forever.

Malawi for improved housing infrastructure
Government has unveiled a new ambitious housing initiative that encourages development of up storey buildings.
The country has for a long time depended on non-storey buildings, a development Housing Minister Peter Mwanza says has contributed to the general lack of space in urban areas.
“This is especially true for civil servants houses and buildings. You will find that most of them are small but take up a lot of space. We want to change this,” said Mwanza.
The new initiative has started with the construction of 200 houses apiece for Malawi Defense Force and Malawi Police Service officers in Lilongwe.
Security officials are one of government’s workers who lack up market housing infrastructure.
Former president Bakili Muluzi used to make fun of their houses, saying he could not understand how an officer with 10 children could manage to house all of them in a one-bed roomed house.
Muluzi could also joke that an officer would sleep with his head and chest in the bedroom, and the legs on the dining room- which also acted as the bedroom for kids and visitors.
“When visitors from the village come, all ‘bedroom work’ (sex) stops until they go back”, Muluzi used to say, to the uproar of United Democratic Front supporters.
Government seems to be building reality from those jokes, as evidenced by its new initiative in Lilongwe- something Mwanza said would change the housing face of Malawi and usher in a new era of respect and dignity for the country’s civil servants.

Blantyre DC shuns chief’s funeral
Blantyre District Commissioner (DC) Charles Makanga is under fire for shunning the burial ceremony of Village Headman Evance Makata.
Makata, 55, died of Diabetes last week, but his burial this week was marred by the prominent absence of Blantyre DC Makata, angering communities from Ndirande.
Traditional leaders fall under the Ministry of Local Government, which, at district level, is headed by the DC.
Makata also failed to send a representative at a funeral service attended by Ndirande Malabada Member of Parliament and Defense Minister Aaron Sangala.
“What the DC has done is very bad and sets a very bad precedent. Traditional leaders deserve respect and the DC must be seen to lead in this. It is a shame,” said Daniel Ndowa, a community member who was backed by other subjects.
Makanga said it was not his deliberate move to miss the burial of the chief. The DC’s wreath was laid by a community member.

WHO joins fight against Liver blindness
Malawi has bemoaned the continued prevalence of Liver blindness, some 19 years after efforts against a condition that affects rural communities.
Health Minister Moses Chirambo said there was need for more resources and technical help, hailing World Health Organization (WHO) for being in the forefront against Liver blindness in the country.
WHO, which has a running project against Liver blindness spanning from 1997, has donated two toner vehicles and 100 bicycles meant it hopes will help reduce cases of Liver blindness through improved outreach mobility.
“It is a shame that Liver blindness continues to affect rural communities, many years after we started efforts aimed at raising public awareness. We really need more help,” said Chirambo.
WHO Country Representative for Malawi, Felistus Zawaira, attributed the continued spread of Liver blindness to perceptions that it was a condition for the rural masses.
“The result has been government neglect because those often affected have no voice. The other factor is that Liver blindness does not kill immediately, and this tends to bring some sort of laxity among rural communities,” said Zawaira.
Liver blindness may lead to complete blindness, but Malawian patients only develop partial blindness.