By Sara Banda
Traditional Authority Sungani Nzeru in Mulanje district said there is need to give access of the electricity to more households in order to reduce deforestation activities in his area.
“From the 1600 houses that have been connected we have already noted a decrease of amount of trees cut in the Mountain here in Bondo, so if we connect more houses it will be easy to tame the rate of deforestation in the Mountain,” Sunganinzeru.
Speaking earlier, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Resident Representative Shigeki Komatsubara said that the electricity has improved the economic aspect of Bondo as many people are now owners of small scale businesses.
“Instead of burning charcoal or cutting down trees for a living people have opened saloons, barbershops and video shows, ” said Komatsubara.
Mulanje Mountain Biosphere Reserve has been experiencing deforestation for a range of years. During this time Government and non-governmental organizations have tried to preserve and protect this Malawian treasure to continue its goodies for future generations.
Introduction of the Mini Grid Hydroelectric power station in Bondo has been one of the measures to ensure that Mulanje Mountain is conserved from the harmful practices that destroy the mountain’s biosphere reserve.
This sounds brilliant, coming at a such an opportune time when Malawi, particularly the people of Mulanje needs it most, especially bearing in mind the damage and the mental trauma that Cyclone Freddy has left. Thank you MMMCT, thank you Bondo Mini Grid Project.