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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 9^th November 2015 to 4^th 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 23^rd November to 25^th November 2015.

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

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

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.