Shire Basin Environmental Support Trust Seeks To Raise 50 Million kwacha To Scale Up Protection Of Ecosystems Along Shire River

Shire Basin Environmental Support Trust (Shire Best) says there’s need to scale up protection of ecosystems along Shire River to avert disruption of electricity generation and other economic activities.

Chief executive officer for Shire Best, Doreen Chanje, made the remarks in Blantyre during a media briefing.


Chanje disclosed that the non-profit organisation has organised several activities to raise funds for the cause.

She re-echoed the importance of the river as it is critical to the thriving of most sectors in the country be it agriculture or energy.
She said this is the more reason her organisation has come up with ‘Run for Shire Initiative’ to raise funds that will be channeled to the cause.

In an interview with MBC, the CEO said it is very pertinent to address grassroot issues (Charcoal making, sand mining and wanton cutting of trees) affecting conservation of the basin.

She was quick to point out that financial resources are paramount hence her organisation’s drive to raise funds for the basin through a marathon scheduled for October 1-8.

Chanje has since appealed to all individuals of good will and the corporate world to support the initiative for the good of the Shire and the nation at large.

“Individuals are requested to contribute a sum of K10, 000 and for that amount they will also get a T-shirt. For corporate, we are hoping that they will contribute much more than K10, 000. Nonetheless firms can register their members of staff so that we can raise as much money as we can. We are looking for a minimum of K50 million,” said Chanje.

In an earlier interview chief executive officer for Egenco, William Liabunya, said siltation of the river affects operations of his the company. He cited that Egenco spent over K7.1 billion kwacha to reclaim Tedzani dam.

“When we talk of deforestation, siltation and its effects on electricity generation comes into play; a clear example is what happened to Tedzani dam. We have spent almost 7 million US dollars (K5.1 billion) to reclaim the dam using a contractor.

“From this dam we generate 26 megawatts of electricity but the reclamation process took us about 3 months. So you will appreciate the loss of revenue in the period and in addition to make up for the loss of power we have to run diesel generators which are an extra cost to the operations,” said Liabunya.

In adherence to the COVID-19 safety measures, all participants for the upcoming marathon will don Shire Best T/shirt and run for Shire in their respective localities.