admin“With the coming of the pre-paid meters there is going to be confusion on the payment as the two families would be using one pre-paid meter.
“The families would start arguing on how they used the power.
“While we appreciate the installation of pre-paid meters in our houses, we feel it was important for Zesa to consult the city council, which knows the set up of these houses, and come up with the best way to install these meters.”
He said the residents had no problems with paying their water bills, as the city council had separated their accounts.
“We have no problems with paying our water bills because the city council separated our accounts so that each family pays its own bill,” said Mr Ncube.
He said they tried stopping Zesa officials from installing the meters, but they said they had just been assigned to replace the fixed meters.
“The Zesa officials told us that they have to separate the electricity cables connected to our houses before they can install the pre-paid meters separately.
“However, I think they should have separated the cables for the sake of maintaining peace among families, despite the expenses involved,” he said.
Another resident, Mr Thabo Ndlovu said sharing the pre-paid meters defeats the purpose of the new system.
“I cannot imagine how we would be using these meters because different families consume electricity at different rates. Some people do not have that culture of switching off their lights, and electrical gadgets such as television sets or radios and it is difficult to control someone who calls himself a landlord.
“As we speak right now some people are not on talking terms despite sharing the same houses. This will just worsen conflicts among families. Some single individuals share their houses with big families, which is unfair for them to share the electricity,” said Mr Ndlovu.
He appealed to the councillors in the area and the residents” associations to engage Zesa on the issue and come up with a reasonable solution.
“What worries us is that these pre-paid meters have to be activated and registered in someone’s name. How will this be done when we are both landlords?” asked the concerned Mr Ndlovu.
“The councillors should intervene and talk to Zesa about this issue before this unfair system creates war in the suburb,” he said.
Contacted for comment, Zesa public relations manager Mr Fullard Gwasira said the power utility was installing the pre-paid meters according to the old meters.
He, however, urged the affected residents to apply for individual pre-paid meters to Zesa.
“Each household is supposed to have its own meter but for such apartments, the residents have to apply for individual meters and Zesa will honour their applications.
“We are still at the beginning of the installation programme and we are concentrating on high consumption areas such as flats. At the end of the exercise we will also allow residents with cottages to also apply for separate pre-paid meters,” he said.
Online Reporter