Shambolic council billing system raises stink
KUDAKWASHE CHIBVURI
Residents have challenged the cash-strapped Harare City Council to act on its shambolic billing system that has seen the local authority demanding payment for services not rendered.
Aggrieved residents say they have lost faith in the council and vowed not to pay for services they are not receiving.
The residents are forced to live without potable water, no refuse collection and deplorable road infrastructure despite a vicious push and threats to unleash debt collectors by the council to force them to pay for services that are not being rendered.
Combined Harare Residents Association, Reuben Akili accused the council of not being accountable and lacking transparency.
“The local authority itself cannot even account for how much the residents owe. There was a period when the local authority moved from the BIQ (but) now, the local authority has no records and the current situation is chaotic,” Akili said.
“There was a time when the Auditor General also raised the same issue that the local authority should have a clean billing system but they have deliberately failed to resolve the issue,” he added.
“When residents pay, they expect to receive services. So residents have been paying but they haven’t received the services. As a result, residents tend to lose confidence in the city council.”
Chairman of the Zimbabwe National Organisation of Associations and Residents Trust (ZNOART) chairperson Nae Shalvar Chikomba said: “We have lost trust in the council. As residents, we can’t continue paying for services that are not being delivered.”
“We need the council to honour its citizens and deliver what they have assured. Why do we have to keep paying the council when they don’t deliver?” he asked rhetorically.
However, Harare Town Clerk Engineer Hosea Chisango said aggrieved residents should visit their nearest council offices to address their queries.
“When we give someone a bill, we expect them to pay it. If someone doesn’t agree with the billing system, he or she is free to go to the district so that they can pay what they see,” he said.
