Poly in Nancholi rejuvenation

News   Chikondi Chingota   November 4, 2019
PIC: Students working on the designs
The Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies students in collaboration with the Centre for Community Organisation and Development (CCODE) are working at renovating the informal settlements that are in the Nancholi area in Blantyre.

They decided to refurbish these structures after noting that the settlements are poor and substandard in the sense that they close access to roads. They also discovered that there is poor positioning of other facilities such as toilets and bathrooms.

The Architectural Department is responsible for improving various infrastructures in the country one of which is the Kachere Informal Settlement.

One of the students involved, Deborah Banda; who is currently in third year, explained that the Polytechnic students will come up with a master plan on how best they can improve these facilities.

“We will design different facilities and later present them to the community for them to choose which one will be more appropriate for them,” added Banda.

The Basic Services and Infrastructure Projects Officer of CCODE  M’bwana Nkhata explained that the buildings in Nancholi are of an imperfect nature.

“They did not follow best construction methods since they are not familiar with technological methods of construction using local available materials,” Nkhata said.

Nkhata added that there are poor drainage systems that force surface water runoff to destroy houses when it rains for hours therefore there is a need for infrastructure improvement.

The Polytechnic is responsible for providing the technological solutions that are acceptable and doable by the communities.

 


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