Blantyre establishes sister city relationship with Dar es Salaam

Blantyre City Council BCC) says its relationship with Dar es Salaam is of great importance as the two cities are expected to be sharing ideas and expertise in various levels of development between.

Over a week ago, Blantyre City Mayor, Councilor Wild Ndipo led a delegation of councilors and secretariat officials of BCC to Dar es Salaam.

Speaking in an interview, BCC Public Relations Manager, Anthony Kasunda said the Mayor and the delegation left the country on February 21 and returned home on February 24, 2018.

“The delegation went [Dar es Salaam] on the invitation of the Lord Mayor of Dar es Salaam as a first step towards establishing a Sister City relationship between the two.

Kasunda added that among some engagements which the mayor had during the visit, he held a press conference together with his Dar es Salaam counterpart at the beginning of the official visit, and then the delegation was taken on a tour of the public transport system which the Dar es Salaam City Council is implementing in phases.

He said, “The delegation was briefed on Uber which is an on-demand transportation service that has brought a revolution in the taxi industry across the world.

“The system was developed in United States of America but has spread to African cities including Dar es Salaam.”

He further said the Mayor of Dar es Salaam, therefore, pledged to dispatch personnel to Blantyre if BCC would want to replicate anything that is happening there (in Dar es Salaam) , especially in the transportation sector.

The delegation also had a chance to attend the Dar es Salaam City Council budget session to appreciate how councilors debate the budget.

The Dar es Salaam City Council assured the Mayor and his delegation of its highest cooperation especially considering that Malawi relies on their port.

“The major resolution was to continue the exchange of ideas and expertise including cultural exchanges. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the relations by signing an agreement as sister cities,” Kasunda said.

Blantyre City Council has relations with various cities such as Hannover in Germany, Norfolk in United States of America, Nanchang in China, Ndola in Zambia and Quelimane in Mozambique just to mention a few.

 

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