Blantyre District Water Office has set aside K4 million to be used to rehabilitate 30 damaged boreholes in the district Blantyre District Water Development Officer Tamala Zembeni told Malawi News Agency (MANA) Thursday.

Zembeni said the funds are part of the financial assistance her office received from United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) through the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project.

She however said although many more boreholes in the district require maintenance due to increased vandalism her office will only manage to reach out to the 30 boreholes and that the criteria for choosing where to go is based on the starter pack the communities have.

“According to community based management guidelines, people are supposed to be responsible for maintenance.

“So to ensure ownership and care of the boreholes, communities are asked to contribute something for the rehabilitation of the boreholes,” said Zembeni.

She disclosed that the rehabilitation exercise started last week and is expected to complete by month end.

According to Zembeni the vandalism of boreholes is very high in Traditional Authorities Machinjiri and Somba.

“Once we finish rehabilitating such boreholes, we are going to engage chiefs and communities so that everybody should take responsibility over the security of the boreholes.