Don’t call me, please dial 253, says Lilongwe Water Board CEO

Lilongwe Water Board Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Alfonso Chikuni has asked customers to stop calling him and other officials whenever they have water issues but, instead, utilise the board’s call centre by dialing 253.

Chikuni made the plea Wednesday when the board in partnership with Nitel, a technological solutions company, briefed journalists about the newly introduced Point of Sale (POSnet) payment device.

The device enables customers on prepaid metering system to buy water units from closer to where they live and has been placed in various filling stations in the city.

Chikuni bemoaned that despite an efficient call centre been operating for more than one-and-a-half years, some customers keep calling him and other senior officers whenever they have water issues.

“We seem to be hitting the wall again and again because people still want to call Chikuni. They don’t want to call 253.

“But we have advertised about it…. It is a very fantastic tool because, when you call, it is for free and you get feedback no matter how long,” Chikuni said.

“Again, you will be called back to be asked whether you have been assisted,” he further said.

Chikuni explained that the call centre was put in place not only for customer satisfaction but also to check the discipline of staff members on how they handle customers.

“It is surprising that the customers haven’t yet adopted it; now one-and-a-half years but we are still struggling.

“We have advertised it but still people would like to call Chikuni and that’s what they do,” Chikuni said.

LWB’s Director of Finance Silli Mbewe, who also said receives direct calls, suggested that there is need for “cultural shift whereby we [customers] feel when we call the call centre we will not be assisted as when you call the CEO.

“But now the CEO might not be conversant with your issue; and maybe, they are in a meeting.”

He asked customers to start believing that they can get better services by calling the call centre and not the CEO.

On this note, Chikuni chipped and said, “Actually when I get these queries, I call the call centre and submit the queries because that’s the only way.”

He then asked the media to help in disseminating information about new innovations taking place in the water board and other sectors so that people understand their importance and later develop enthusiasm to embrace them.

“For instance, information about such things as Nitel’s POSnet; even after a year, somebody will call me and say, ‘where can I buy water units?’” Chikuni said.

He said, surprisingly, it is the elite who call him instead of calling the call centre for fast and efficient service.