By Charlie Ligomeka

Machinga, August 31, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) is set to introduce National Addressing System (NAS) in Machinga where houses will be numbered, streets and buildings named for efficient goods and service delivery.  

MACRA Director of Postal and E-Commerce, Kondwani Katchika, disclosed this on Friday at Liwonde, Machinga during stakeholders meeting with District Executive Committee members, traditional leaders and other district civil society organizations.

He said Malawi does not have comprehensive addressing systems that can easily identify a person by street, building or a house.

He expressed concern that the gap affects delivery of services in time of emergencies.

Katchika said following the Communication Act of 2016, Section 124, MACRA is mandated to manage and regulate addresses and postal codes.

He said there is need for Malawi to have a system that should number houses and buildings, name streets and other infrastructures for easy identification to improve service delivery.

“We had traditional addresses but they are not matching with the economic developments that are happening worldwide.

“With the coming of NAS, people now understand why we need the system. There are times when a person purchases a product online and get stuck when asked where to put postcode,” Katchika said.

He appealed to people to avoid vandalizing all physical features that will be installed along streets, saying such features will be installed to easily assist in locating people and places.

Senior Chief Mposa hailed MACRA for introducing the system saying growing population and increased number of infrastructure warrant a comprehensive addressing system as is the case with other countries in the Southern African.

“With the growing population and a lot of infrastructural development, traditional system is not ideal to locate a person or a place. It becomes time consuming and very involving for service providers to reach exact destinations in time of emergences,” Mposa said.

He, therefore, pledged that chiefs in Machinga will play a significant role in raising awareness on the importance of NAS to their subjects so that they should understand and embrace the system.

NAS benefits includes, provision of verified proof of residence and increased accuracy in population and housing census information collection as a result of accurate numbering and naming of physical infrastructures.