Creck Hardware and General Supplies has stepped up in a major way, donating two fire engines worth a combined K300 million to Lilongwe City Council and Mangochi Municipality, in a move set to significantly boost emergency response capacity in both areas.

The generous handover took place this morning, with the company's director general, Apostle Clifford Kawinga, revealing the donation was a direct response to a call from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development urging the private sector to step up and support Malawi's development.

"As a corporate responsible private sector, we feel that it is very important that we should be able to contribute to safety issues as far as the business environment is concerned," Kawinga said.

Shocking scale of the problem revealed

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Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ben Phiri, praised Creck Hardware for heeding his call, but used the occasion to expose the true scale of the crisis facing Malawi's councils, revealing that more than 25 councils across the country currently have no fire engines whatsoever -- leaving vast swathes of the country dangerously exposed in the event of major fires.

Phiri added that several councils were also struggling without basic garbage trucks, further highlighting the chronic equipment shortages plaguing local government structures nationwide.

The dramatic donation is likely to reignite pressure on other private sector players to follow Creck Hardware's lead, as government continues pushing for greater corporate involvement in plugging critical infrastructure and safety gaps across Malawi's under-resourced councils, many of which remain years behind in modernising their emergency response capabilities.