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Author: dytonmashall

Council urges residents to use flyovers

The Council has noted with regret the shunning of flyovers by pedestrians which puts their lives at danger.

One of the flyovers in the City

The Council erected a number of flyovers in the City especially at accidents prone spots. However, the utilization of the facilities has not been impressive.

“We are not impressed with the way people use all the flyovers in the City,” says the Council’s Public Relations Manager Anthony Kasunda

“We urge people to make full use of the flyovers. Parents should sensitize their children on the importance of using the flyovers as it is mostly school kids that are hit by vehicles under these structures,” he says.

He says plans are there to build a hand rail around some flyovers especially the Ginnery Corner one so that everyone will be forced to use the facility.

Mayor receives donation of desks

Blantyre City Mayor Noel Chalamanda on Tuesday received a donation of 56 desks from Claude Bandawe, a Malawian resident in the United Kingdom on behalf of Chilomoni LEA School.

Mayor-in-class

Chalamanda, who is also the Council for the ward, said he will work with the Member of Parliament for the Constituency; Tarsizius Gowelo to ensure the school has necessary facilities.

For example, the school which was established in the 1960s, has no electricity and security fence.

School authorities said lack of electricity and security fence is impacting negatively as the institution has several times been attacked by robberies.

The Mayor thanked the donor, Mr Bandawe for remembering where he is coming from despite living very far away from Malawi.

“We do not have to be rich to give but the heart of giving is very important. The only way we can show appreciation to Mr Bandawe is by taking care of the desks,” he said.

PTA chairperson Mr Kayiya said in this modern world, there was need for the school to have computers.

George Bandawe, brother to the donor, said the issue of computers in this era cannot be ignored and pledged to speak to his brother for consideration.

Mr Bandawe and his associates have donated the desks for the third time to the school. In 2013, they presented 55 desks and in 2014, a total of 70 desks were also donated.

Council introduces Magazine

The Blantyre City Council has introduced a Magazine to provide a platform to members of the public especially Blantyre City residents to interact with the Council.

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Due to the nature of services which the Council offers both to the local and international clients, it has become necessary to come up with a magazine which will be distributed beyond the boundaries of the City.

This magazine will not only offer an interaction opportunity but also introduce some of the services the Council provides which may be of interest to the public.

Through the Council’s mission statement, it is envisaged becoming the best managed and accountable Council, responsive to the needs of the residents through the provision of efficient and effective services through participatory approaches and sustainable use of resources.

It is in line with the magazine objectives that the Council strives to increase communication to the public in order to enhance effective dissemination of messages about the Council operations.

Fire fighting training courses on the cards

Blantyre City Council has lined up fire fighting training courses for companies and other services providers to run from November 9 to December 4 this year at Civic offices.

Fire fighting training participants from markets

In press statement, the Council’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Alfred Chanza says the courses target several sectors and will run for three days.

Says Chanza: “Blantyre City Council Fire and Rescue Service will be conducting first aid fire fighting training courses from 9th November 2015 to 4th December 2015.”

“These extremely popular three-day long courses provide participants with a greater awareness and understanding of the threat posed by fire, their personal responsibility in preventing an outbreak and the action to be taken should a fire occur,” he says.

He adds: “The course is presented by experienced City Council Fire Brigade professionals and all participants receive practical hands-on training in basic firefighting techniques as well as interactive training in risks assessment and mitigation.”

Chanza says institutions are advised to choose a relevant course or courses and send the number and names of their nominated participants for each course and that each participant is expected to pay in advance K95 000 per course for three days.

“The courses target all staff, particularly those designated as fire wardens or marshals or any safety officer working in industries, commerce or the public sector institutions,” he says.

Participants are expected to develop confidence in carrying out fire safety responsibilities, have greater awareness of the hazards of fire, acquire knowledge of the combustion process and how fire is spread, have an understanding of what actions to take in the event of fire.

They are also expected to get knowledge of the different types of extinguishers, their uses and the hazards associated with them and have the ability to carry out routine fire safety maintenance checks to comply with relevant legislation apart from tackling small fires with confidence.

The course content will be as follows:

  • Combustion principles
  • Portable fire extinguishers
  • Classes and common cause of fire
  • Good housekeeping
  • Fire risk assessment
  • The roles of Fire Safety Manager and Fire Wardens
  • How to spot and mitigate hazards.
  • Liquefied Petroleum Gases and Acetylene cylinder incidents
  • Motor vehicle fires
  • Fire extinguishment practical
  • Arson preventive measures
  • Highly Flammable Liquids (HFL) liquefied Petroleum Gases regulations
  • Fire drill procedures in offices, shops, warehouses, colleges/schools, hotels, hospitals, factories and boarding places and others.

The courses are scheduled as follows:

Course One       :                First Aid Firefighting Training for Shops, Offices, Media, Banks, Colleges, Schools and Security services from 9th November to 11th November 2015.

Course Two       :                First Aid Firefighting Training for Oil installation, Filling Stations and Garages/Workshops from 16th November to 18th November 2015

Course Three     :                 First Aid Firefighting Training for Factories and Warehouses from 23rd November to 25th November 2015.

Course Four       :                 First Aid Firefighting Training for Hotels/Motels/Lodges, Hospitals and Restaurants from 2nd December to 4th December 2015.

For more information, contact Numbers: 0994 441 964/0881 789 366/0884 432 503

Council welcomes intern

The Council is pleased to welcome Chippo Chimwaza on internship in the public relations office. Chimwaza brings her experience as a radio journalist after working for Matindi, Star and Adventist radio stations. Asked what her aspirations in life are, Chimwaza said: “I have always wanted to do PR. I want to be a Public Relations person. So I am glad that I have been given this opportunity and look forward to gaining experience.” She comes immediately after other ladies, Angella Phiri and Esnath Samson, who had been on internship for the past seven months bade the Council farewell.

Councils members oriented on local government system

Blantyre City Council members and senior staff from the secretariat have been oriented on the Local government system in Malawi Guidebook.

The orientation was conducted by Malawi Local Government Association, National Local Government Finance Committee and Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

Among other issues, the Council members and secretariat would be oriented on guide for conduct of council business, budgeting and financial management in local authorities, development planning systems and integrity in Councils

The two day orientation workshop was opened by Blantyre City Mayor Noel Chalamba who welcomed the session saying it was better late than never.

Said Chalamanda: “We wish this orientation was conducted at the beginning of our term of office. Nevertheless, this orientation will impart very important knowledge to us Council members on how to conduct business in a manner to serve our city well.”

In attendance were Councillors, Members of Parliament and Blantyre City Council management team.

Council bids farewell to Polytechnic interns

Blantyre City Council on Friday bade farewell to two journalism students from Polytechnic, Angella Phiri and Esnath Samson, who were on internship for the past seven months.

Phiri and Samson were attached to the public relations office.

The two, in their remarks, expressed gratitude for the knowledge and experience acquired from the Council during the stay.

“We would also like to thank Blantyre City Council for extending our internship period,” said Phiri. “At first we were supposed to be here for three months but when we requested for an extension you considered us, we do not take it for granted, thank you.”

“Now it has been seven months since we joined the council and now that it is time for us to go back to school, we are leaving with both tears and smiles. We have tears because it is really sad that we are departing from you wonderful people and smiles because the friendships we have made with everyone here will be a memory and treasure of our stay,” she said.

She added; “As we go back to school, we will take with us all that we have learnt here and it is our hope that [after graduating] we find full time employment with a competent institution like Blantyre City Council.”

Blantyre City Council is wishing the two, Angella Phiri and Esnath Samson, the best of luck in their studies and thereafter.

From streets to College of Medicine

Fellow Blantyre residents: I had the privilege to be part of the Samaritan Trust Open Day. What mesmerized me most was the good work the Trust is doing redefining the future of street children. I was overwhelmed by the story of Simon, an orphan who lost both parents early 2000. This situation pushed him into Blantyre streets to beg in order to meet his basic needs until Samaritan Trust rescued him and enrolled him at Bangwe Primary School.

Simon was selected to Robert Blake Secondary School and now, Simon is a student at College of Medicine pursuing Physiotherapy. What a moving and inspiring story of a life of a once street kid. There is also another story of Rhoda who was pushed into early employment (child labour) because of lack of parental care. Samaritan Trust rescued her from house-girl employment and enrolled her back in school. Now Rhoda is in Form 3.

My Fellow residents, Samaritan Trust is doing a very commendable work to transform the lives of underprivileged children and give them new meaning. You can be part of this success story by sponsoring a child or making a donation. For K5 000 per month, you can send a street child to primary school and K8 000 to secondary school. For K20 000 per quarter a street child can train in vocational skills. I had an opportunity to pose for a photograph with Simon, the College of Medicine student from Samaritan Trust. What a privilege!!! What a life!!!

Samaritan Trust impresses Mayor

GREENCORNER WARD: Blantyre City Mayor Councilor Noel Chalamanda says his office is committed to making Blantyre City a better place to live for everyone including street children.

Chalamanda was the Guest of Honour at the Samaritan Trust Open Day. The Trust is a non- governmental organization that aims at alleviating the plight of street children by ensuring their access to education, vocation skills training and social protection.

He says it is the responsibility of the council to make sure there are no street children in the city and that through trustees like the Samaritan Trust, there is hope that the problem of the increase in number of street children will be curbed.

Says Chalamanda: “What we will be doing in a short while is to go out there using people that have expertise like the Samaritan Trust to see what we can do with the children, either to bring them here or to other such institutions. Even though it might not be solved in a short while but we must take deliberate steps towards alleviating the problem of street children in the city and the country as a whole.”

He says there is need for collaboration among residents in addressing the problem of street children and that the corporate world open up opportunities for street children who have shown dedication in changing their lives by joining the Samaritan Trust.

“It is in this vein that I call upon you, to collaborate and put an effort in addressing the problem of street children. As we have observed, there is a lot of potential among these children. Future carpenters, builders, tailors, technicians. Let’s open up opportunities for these children and utilize their skills for the betterment of our City.” he says.
However, he pleads with the children to take the opportunity of being part of the Samaritan Trust seriously by learning on how they can become good citizens.

Mike Bamford, Samaritan Trust Chairman, says it is sad to see some street children who were once part of the organisation back in the streets when their friends are craving for an opportunity like that.

Says Bamford; “Most of the times children run away from this place for their own reasons but I think because they are used to the life in the streets they find it had to adapt to a new environment which is why we now have competent staff which makes sure that when the children are here they are settled and are feeling at home.”

Margaret Nkhwehna, Samaritan Trust Executive Director says the organization has managed to reach over 5000 street children since it was founded in 1993 with the help of social workers and various organizations such as Tilitonse Fund, Tudor Trust, David James Foundation, Sarah Adams Foundation and Aqua Viveda.

Currently the organization with 17 staff members is taking care of 77 children who amongst them 24 are girls.

BCC Signs Development Agreement With Chinese Investor

LILONGWE: Blantyre City Council is a beneficiary of the just ended Malawi Investment Forum. The Council has reached a preliminary understanding by signing MOU with the China-Zambia and China-Tanzania Friendly Cultural Exchange Programme for the joint implementation of 11 projects. The projects are as follows:bcc

  • Construction and of a modern High Way from Blantyre Central Business District (CBD) to Chileka International Airport via Mbayani, Chemusa, Chirimba and Kameza Townships.
  • Construction of a modern multi storey parkade in Blantyre City
  • Construction of a Building Materials Market
  • Establishment of Taxi Company in Blantyre City
  • Establishment of Brick Manufacturing Company in Blantyre City
  • Exploring the possibility of establishing a Television Channel for common use and television programmes exchange
  • Construction of Park Station/Bus Terminal in Blantyre City
  • Improving Public Transport System—Introducing a City Bus Service
  • Improving urban sewer system and sewage treatment
  • Improving City street lighting
  • Development of Residential Buildings in Blantyre City.

The Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony that took place on Tuesday at Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe. The Mayor Noel Chalamanda and Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Alfred Chanza signed on behalf of the Council.