adminLoveness Bepete Chronicle Reporter
GWERU City Council is offering a 50 percent discount relief for rates and service charges to companies and institutions that will clear their debts by December 31.
The local authourity is owed $15 million by ratepayers and it also owes a number of service providers $18 million.
The municipality’s assistant director of finance, Owen Masimba, yesterday said the municipality had come up with the debt settlement plan due to the prevailing economic challenges that have seen a number of firms in the city closing down.
“The industry is suffering a lot and as of now there are only four major companies operating and all others have closed down in Gweru.
“We’re hoping that this move will help the industrial sector recover,” said Masimba.
“To this end, council is running a rates and services clearance scheme to cushion struggling companies and institutions.
“The affected ratepayers and debtors who fail to embrace this relief measure will have the full arrears owing to council restored after the lapse of the grace period.”
Gweru municipality also issued a notice yesterday on the debt settlement scheme, advising that the measure would not apply to those who benefited from the June 2013 write-off.
The notice added that from January next year, properties belonging to defiant debtors would be auctioned.
Last year, the government ordered all municipalities to cancel debts after noting hardships that people were facing.
derick.khumalo