Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) has built 29 modern houses for some communities in Mwanza and Neno districts displaced by the Mozambique-Malawi (MOMA) 400kv Power Transmission Project.
ESCOM Chief Executive Officer, Kamkwamba Kumwenda, said the Malawi Government has spent over K2.5 billion for the construction of the three-bedroom houses and other associated infrastructure such as health and school facilities..
He said this is part of the overall compensation package under a Resettlement Action Plan for MOMA that will see 46 houses constructed for the communities that relocated from the 76-Kilometre corridor of the transmission line from Mozambique.
“The MOMA interconnection line is passing through occupied areas. Since electric lines require a clearance of about 55 metres as a wayleave, all people affected by the passage of the line were asked to relocate. ESCOM is, therefore, building the houses for them where they move to,” he said.
The ESCOM CEO said the power utility company is constructing 17 more houses and also drilling two boreholes in Neno and three in Mwanza, building two school blocks, a health clinic, a community-based child care centre, a church and a waiting-bay at Chifunga Health Centre in Neno.
Neno communities have benefitted 24 houses, with 10 of them built in Chifunga and Chapita in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mlauli, 11 houses spread among Kazunga, Jonathan and Chapita villages and three in Kagonamwake. Five houses were built in Siledi and Mpasabwire villages in T/A Kanduku in Mwanza.
A beneficiary of the houses, Juliet Masanjala of Chikapa area in T/A Symon, Neno, has since hailed ESCOM and the government for compensating the communities.
“This new house has brought dignity to my family. We are now safe from harsh weather conditions such as heavy rains and storms that used to pose a threat to our precious grass-thatched house. I cannot even begin to compare this house to the previous one, which was demolished. I am living in a better house than some people in the urban areas,” she said.
Overall, MOMA transmission line stretches 218 Kilometres from Matambo Substation in Tete in Mozambique to Malawi via Mwanza to Neno and Phombeya Substation in Balaka.
The project has since gathered momentum as towers have been constructed on the 76-kilometre stretch for Malawi and Capital Hill isfunding the project alongside KfW, the European Union and the World Bank to the tune of USD127 million.
Oncecompleted, it will enable the country tap 120 megawatts from the Southern Africa Power Pool. Eletricidade De Mocambique is implementing MOMA on the Mozambique side.
President Dr. Lazarus Chakwera and his Mozambican counterpart Filipe Nyusi laid a foundation stone for MOMA in the neighbouring country on April 21, 2022, a year after the two leaders launched the project at Phombeya.
