By Sylvester Kumwenda

Dowa, February 7, Mana: Deputy Director of Postal Directorate at the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) Burnet Namacha has urged councils to ensure that people are aware about the National Addressing System (NAS) to ensure proper understanding and implementation.

He made the remarks Thursday during a five-day training of District Awareness Teams on NAS from Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Ntchisi and Dowa district councils held at Mponela in Dowa.

Namacha said NAS being a new thing in the country, might bring misunderstandings and misconceptions amongst some communities, hence the awareness teams must ensure enough publicity of the program ahead of its implementation in the districts.

"The plan is to have NAS country wide, but before we roll out NAS in your districts, we would like to ensure people understand what this is all about. That is why we decided to have this training.

"The training looks at an overview on NAS and other technicalities in its implementation. So it is important that you understand these, so that you can also present the right messages to the communities," said Namacha.

Through the Communications ACT of 2016, parliament mandated MACRA to implement a comprehensive addressing system to allocate, manage and regulate addresses and postcodes.

The system is being implemented in all the districts across the country.

NAS is expected to improve councils' and central governments' service delivery to the people.

In his remarks, Chief Administrative Officer Mathews Mkandawire from Dowa awareness committee said the orientation was crucial as the success of the NAS will largely depend on an informed society of the same.

As such, the awareness committees, he said, have an important role to play in enhancing awareness amongst the community.

"As a committee in Dowa, after this we intend to conduct several activities to raise awareness, starting radio programs, community awareness campaigns targeting different communities, and also social media, considering many, including the youth, are on social media.

"We will give a podium for all or a larger number of community members to be aware of NAS, so that the campaign should be a success," he said.