Govt institutions owe BCC ZWL$35m

CHENGETAI MURIMWA IN BULAWAYO

Government institutions owe Bulawayo City Council (BCC) close to ZWL$35m in unpaid rates and water bills which has resulted in council failing to provide adequate service delivery to residents, a top official has said.

BCC Senior Public Relations Officer Nessisa Mpofu said according to the Finance and Development Committee report of November 2020 government debtors are at ZWL$34,586,006 while residents owe the local authority ZWL$250m.

“We are owed a lot of money by government institutions and residents and this has really affected our service delivery provision.

We would like to encourage them to settle their bills so that we are able to provide service delivery,” Mpofu said.

Last week BCC cut water supplies at Tredgold, a building that houses the Magistrates Courts, Labour Court, Department of Surveyor General, Department of Social services, Registrar General’s office, Local Government Ministry and Umguza District Coordinator’s office.

The water challenges that are ravaging the country’s second biggest city have resulted in temporary closure of one of the city’s biggest firms, United Refineries Limited.

Mpofu said the water challenges bedevilling the city were due to the poor rainfall over the past three rainy seasons.

She said BCC was working round the clock to ensure that companies are not affected by the water shedding that is currently being implemented.

“Despite these challenges, the city has been trying to balance the water supply challenges for the residential, commerce and industry with priority being given to commerce and industry.

The Water Act, Part V, Section 61 – however states that if a catchment (inclusive of the City of Bulawayo) is declared a water shortage area; it means that the city will be empowered to prioritise water supply for primary use only – which is human consumption at the expense of commercial and industrial demands,” Mpofu said .

“However, Council considered the matter widely in view of the negative impact it would have on the operations of commerce and industry in Bulawayo and possibilities of de-industrialisation in the city.

In that regard, in order to minimize loss of jobs due to closure or relocation of industries, Council resolved not to shed industries and the central business district.”

Mpofu said the local authority like the rest of organisations has been more affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the lockdown there was a notable decrease in revenue collections as many individuals, companies and sectors were adversely affected.

“We had to temporarily reduce some services such as refuse collection from weekly to once a fortnight due to cash flow constraints.

These services will be fully restored once council’s financial position improves,” she said.

Mpofu said BCC was currently generating revenue from other sources such as shop licenses, mining claims, liquor licenses, cremation fees, rates and supplementary charges.