MIHR condemns Byo’s ‘outrageous’ bills
TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights (MIHR) has condemned estimated bills from the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) describing them as ‘outrageous’.
MIHR coordinator, Khumbulani Maphosa, who spoke at a press conference in Bulawayo on Tuesday this week said the estimated billing costs, which has seen some residents asked to pay unrealistic tariff charges of at least ZWL$70 000 a month, has becoming a burden on the residents.
“We have spent the past two weeks consulting our structures, physically and virtually. It has become very clear that the issue of estimated bills is a thorn to the residents.
“The residents are feeling the pinch, and they are not happy at the estimated bills, especially this time when people are going for 72 hours water-shedding. Very soon we are going to see an extension of 72 hours,” Maphosa said.
Apparently, BCC has been struggling since 2019, to replace more than 18 000 dysfunctional water meters in the western suburbs to improve efficiency in its billing system.
Maphosa said the water shortages were not entirely BCC’s fault.
But, there should be shared responsibilities.
Maphosa also appealed to BCC to attend to water pipe bursts so as to save the precious liquid.
He added that they will petition the council on the water issue and currently residents are appending their signatures to the petition which will be delivered to the council any time from this week.
“We have been seeing rising cases of diarrhoea since January 2022, with the months of May and June recording 158 and 156 cases, respectively. As MIHR, we have received numerous cases of residents complaining of stomach pains after drinking tap water,” Maphosa said.
