ules for
treatment of wastes in the industries,
but
disposal of untreated waste water into drains and, subsequently, into the city's
major streams is very common, thus posing a potential health and environmental
risk to the people in Blantyre and downstream. Other sources of water pollution
in the city such as runoffs from domestic and agricultural activities and
vehicle emissions
have been
identified. Previous studies have indicated substantial heavy metal pollution
in the city's water bodies including streams.
Major
changes in industrial activities have occurred in the city including decrease
in volumes of waste water generated by David Whitehead company which used to be
a major contributor of waste water effluent in Makata industrial area; change of
ownership and waste water management of Cold Storage Company; closure of the
Shire Bus Line; doubling of waste water generation from both Carlsberg and
Chibuku Products due to increase in production and installation of some
industrial pretreatment plants such as at Chibuku, Plascon and Dulux.
Manufacturing contributes
approximately 14% to GDP. In the period 1996–1999 the sector showed 0% growth,
partly due to the rapid liberalization of markets exposing Malawi’s
manufacturers to competition from South Africa and Zimbabwe. The sector is
still hampered by monopolistic behaviour (cotton), trade barriers, lack of
access to capital, illegal imports, and unpredictable implementation or lack of
implementation of existing bilateral trade agreements.
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