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Michael Magoronga, Sunday News Correspondent
THE Kwekwe City Council will introduce a road and lighting levy which will see ratepayers paying a fee which will go towards rehabilitation of roads and installation of street lights in the city.
This is contained in a $27 million budget that the local authority presented and adopted last week. Speaking during an adoption meeting in the council chambers, chairperson of the Finance and General Purpose Committee, Councillor Jane Ticharunga said the road levy will go a long way towards the rehabilitation of the city’s roads.
“Let me at this juncture remind fellow councillors that we agreed recently that sometime next year, we shall convene a special council meeting to charge a roads levy to rehabilitate our roads,” said Clr Ticharunga.
According to the budget, all the 2016 tariffs will be maintained at the same level while a public lighting levy was also endorsed.
“This levy will go a long way in improving public lighting in the city. The proposal is made to fund the public lighting service which you are all aware council is not providing to expectations,” said Clr Ticharunga.
She said the budget was crafted after taking into consideration the economic hardships that the country is facing.
However, residents blasted the council for failure to conduct proper consultations before passing the budget. Most of the public hearings that were held during the consultation stages were poorly attended with one which was done in the city centre dominated by councillors and management officials.
“The council is introducing a budget which is now a burden to most ratepayers as most of us do not have a meaningful source of income,” fumed Mr Melusi Chirinda, a resident.
Instead, he said, council should try to venture into income generating projects than rely on residents who are also facing numerous challenges. Kwekwe Mayor Councillor Matenda Madzoke applauded the committee for coming up with a budget that still caters for the well-being of the city.
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