PRESERVATION OF CATCHMENT AREA OR TOWN HOUSES? AN ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS IN BLANTYRE, MALAWI BY M. J. Mvula
I came to Blantyre in search for jobs in 1973. The first Township I lived was Ndirande and Ndirande flats provided the social services we needed then. Just across Ndirande flats was a thick forest which stretched all the way from Blantyre Water Board to Makhetha. Ndirande Mountain was then rich with flora and fauna and a green cover could be seen covering the mountain.
I have watched Ndirande mountain defencelessly being attacked by the exploitative micro and macro entrepreneurs in their pursuit of individual and corporate profit without any inclination to ecological balance. This planet earth where we live now is comprised of a network of interrelationships among organisms and the environment. There is a cause and effect on any action that we take individually and corporately.
Ndirande mountain forest is gone and so is the nice cool breeze and the biodiversity that found its habitat in the forest. I never saw the rocks that I now see when I glance Ndirande mountain. The weather in Blantyre is never as it was around the 1970s. The water supply services provided by Blantyre Water Board no longer meet the demands of the city dwellers.
Human beings are very dependent on the other eco-systems for their well-being. Yet, what we have observed in the past and the scourge continues is that human beings continue to sacrifice at the altars of corporate profit any sensibility to ecological balance. I have always thought that it is honorable to remedy past mistakes and that we should limit our present destructive actions. Lo and behold, that is not the case. The catchment area in Blantyre under the custody of Blantyre Water Board is now (2008) up for grabs. Mankind who has multiplied himself beyond explanation and no one can question him for that action wants to build houses which are in high demand. The building of town houses appeals so much to the custodians of this catchment area and not the ecological damage. What we need is a responsible stewardship to the God-given resources.
Sometimes we frantically exert our energies and focus on symptoms and not the causes of challenges that we face. The reality is that the size of the earth is not changing but human beings are producing themselves at an alarming rate. Look at the way houses are being built bellow both Ndirande and Soche hills? I can hear whispers that it is a divine rule that mankind multiplies and fills the earth. This thinking is both archaic and dangerous biblical interpretation. When God gave the command to multiply and fill the earth, he did not endorse irresponsible multiplication. There was ecological balance at the time this command was given which is not the case now. We are confronted with the realities of globalization. Blantyre has become a city not only for Malawians but for all who have found Malawi to be a good Country to live in. These are people who are diverse even in their religions. The resources that were then adequate no longer meet the demands of the present city residence.
God did not create human beings only. He created other life forms that equally have rights for existence. Anthropocentric decisions that have no regard to other life forms present a big challenge to the existence of other life forms. Malawi needs to focus on issues of population growth that seem to surpass the resources we have culminating in urban pressures. We have already destroyed the Chimwankhunda Dam catchment area and God have mercy, let us reserve and preserve the Ndirande catchment area.
I came to Blantyre in search for jobs in 1973. The first Township I lived was Ndirande and Ndirande flats provided the social services we needed then. Just across Ndirande flats was a thick forest which stretched all the way from Blantyre Water Board to Makhetha. Ndirande Mountain was then rich with flora and fauna and a green cover could be seen covering the mountain.
I have watched Ndirande mountain defencelessly being attacked by the exploitative micro and macro entrepreneurs in their pursuit of individual and corporate profit without any inclination to ecological balance. This planet earth where we live now is comprised of a network of interrelationships among organisms and the environment. There is a cause and effect on any action that we take individually and corporately.
Ndirande mountain forest is gone and so is the nice cool breeze and the biodiversity that found its habitat in the forest. I never saw the rocks that I now see when I glance Ndirande mountain. The weather in Blantyre is never as it was around the 1970s. The water supply services provided by Blantyre Water Board no longer meet the demands of the city dwellers.
Human beings are very dependent on the other eco-systems for their well-being. Yet, what we have observed in the past and the scourge continues is that human beings continue to sacrifice at the altars of corporate profit any sensibility to ecological balance. I have always thought that it is honorable to remedy past mistakes and that we should limit our present destructive actions. Lo and behold, that is not the case. The catchment area in Blantyre under the custody of Blantyre Water Board is now (2008) up for grabs. Mankind who has multiplied himself beyond explanation and no one can question him for that action wants to build houses which are in high demand. The building of town houses appeals so much to the custodians of this catchment area and not the ecological damage. What we need is a responsible stewardship to the God-given resources.
Sometimes we frantically exert our energies and focus on symptoms and not the causes of challenges that we face. The reality is that the size of the earth is not changing but human beings are producing themselves at an alarming rate. Look at the way houses are being built bellow both Ndirande and Soche hills? I can hear whispers that it is a divine rule that mankind multiplies and fills the earth. This thinking is both archaic and dangerous biblical interpretation. When God gave the command to multiply and fill the earth, he did not endorse irresponsible multiplication. There was ecological balance at the time this command was given which is not the case now. We are confronted with the realities of globalization. Blantyre has become a city not only for Malawians but for all who have found Malawi to be a good Country to live in. These are people who are diverse even in their religions. The resources that were then adequate no longer meet the demands of the present city residence.
God did not create human beings only. He created other life forms that equally have rights for existence. Anthropocentric decisions that have no regard to other life forms present a big challenge to the existence of other life forms. Malawi needs to focus on issues of population growth that seem to surpass the resources we have culminating in urban pressures. We have already destroyed the Chimwankhunda Dam catchment area and God have mercy, let us reserve and preserve the Ndirande catchment area.
