admin
resulting in the local authority failing to pay workers.Service delivery in Chitungwiza faces collapse owing to the financial problems.
Workers have gone for four months without pay, prompting them to embark on a strike some three weeks ago.
The Labour Court recently declared the strike illegal and ordered the workers back to work.
Town Clerk Mr George Makunde told The Herald last week that the debt was in excess of US$23 million.
“Council’s known total debt hovers around US$23 million for water, statutory obligations, workers’ salaries, bank overdrafts and general goods and services by suppliers,” said Mr Makunde.
Mr Makunde attributed the various woes to mismanagement by the previous leadership.
He said the previous management made bank overdrafts that are now haunting the municipality.
Mr Makunde said council had poor debt collection plans, collapsed infrastructure for water and sewer, institutionalised corruption on land deals, overstaffing and other challenges.
However, when he took over the reigns two months ago some measures were already in place to correct the situation.
The new town clerk said council had started paying statutory obligations to Zimra, NSSA, and the medical aid services that had been outstanding since the Zimbabwe dollar era.
Council has been slapped with numerous lawsuits by creditors and people in land disputes over the years.
Lawsuits, Mr Makunde said, were among the challenges facing the municipality.
Sewer flows all over in the town and water shortages have become a norm in Chitungwiza.
Some people were allocated stands in undeveloped areas, prompting them to build houses where there is no water supply, sewer line or even roads.
Others were allowed to construct their buildings on wetlands.
Council bars have been turned into white elephants with some substandard food outlets sprouting at most beer outlets.
leeroy