Wednesday 21 March 2018

ZAMBIAN BREWERIES LEADS PRESERVATION OF WATER RESOURCES

By MacPherson Mukuka

Community members at Itawa Springs supported by Zambian  Breweries
As World Water Day approaches, one of Lusaka’s largest users of water, Zambian Breweries, is hard at work in its efforts to help preserve the country’s water sources and contribute to helping communities  have access to clean water.
This year’s World Water Day falls on March 22, under the theme of ‘Nature for Water’. Zambian Breweries recognises the importance of preserving nature in order to protect our water sources and has embarked on projects that promote the preservation and protection of the Itawa Springs in Ndola and the Kafue Basin on the outskirts of Lusaka.
The Itawa Springs is an important tributary to the Kafubu River, which accounts for between 50 and 60 percent of the water supply for both domestic and industrial use for the cities of Ndola, Luanshya and Masaiti. Despite its huge importance, the source of water had been under significant threat due to land degradation and pollution caused by brick-making and unregulated effluent discharge.
Zambian Breweries partnered with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) under the Habitat For Humanity Zambia (HFHZ) project and built 28 houses for families who were resettled from the edge of the spring where growing population numbers were proving to be a threat to the water source.
GIZ is a German development agency that provides services in the field of international development cooperation
Zambian Breweries has also partnered with WWF Zambia on a project that aims to protect the Kafue Basin, one of Zambia’s most important water sources that is under threat due to increased water demand. The scheme aims to raise awareness and develop a common plan to tackle the shared challenges the Kafue wetlands are facing.
Zambian Breweries’ corporate affairs director Ezekiel Sekele explained that the company aimed to limit water waste at all its production plants as part of its contribution to the efforts of preserving water.
“Water is a vital resource both for our business and the nation. We therefore treat water as a valuable resource that is at the helm of our entire production base and we aim to limit and prevent water waste at all our plants,” he said.
Zambian Breweries is also one of the 16 partners who include the private sector, public sector, civil society and international organisations that signed a Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSi) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2016. The stakeholders agreed to strategise on how to improve the quality of water supply in the city.
Apart from its environmental efforts, Zambian Breweries donated ZMW 2.5 millionto the government’s cholera fight. Part of the money will go towards drilling boreholes in areas that do not have access to clean water.
Zambian Breweries also provided a 30,000 litres water bowser to the government taskforce on cholera and Lusaka Water Sewerage Company (LWSC) to help distribute clean safe water and help stop cholera in the capital’s townships.




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