Concerned Youth Organisation (CYO) has launched a WhatsApp helpline for Blantyre City Council (BCC) which will assist in enhancing good service delivery by BCC to residents in the commercial city.
The organisation launched the help line on Tuesday at an event where it also donated mobile handset for the WhatsApp line under a 12-month project entitled Building an Active Citizenry for Accountable and Transparent Urban Governance with financial support from Tilitonse Foundation.
Speaking after donating the mobile handset, CYO Executive Director Harvey Chimaliro said his organisation wants to promote reporting and feedback mechanisms in improving service delivery and they hope that this will enable residents to share various developments pertaining to status of service delivery in the city.
“It is to our hope that residents will be reporting incidences that require the Council to take action as well as utilizing the platform to commend the Council for the action taken on various incidences of concern,” said Chimaliro.
He added that CYO, Blantyre City Council and other keys stakeholders will be convening review meetings to track progress and responsiveness of Blantyre City Council in addressing issues received from the residents through the WhatsApp hotline whose contact number is 0888811000.
In his remarks, Spokesperson for the Council, Anthony Kasunda commended CYO and Tilitonse Foundation for the development which he said will help in responding to the residents’ concerns with urgency.
“With just phone calls, sometimes it is difficult to remember everything but with the WhatsApp hotline; we will be able to keep records of incidences including photos and videos as well as make proper follow ups where necessary,” he said.
