adminPost Correspondent
MUTARE City Council will soon conduct a trial run of pre-paid water meters in a move set to increase its revenue base, the City Engineer has revealed. City Engineer Donaldson Nyatoti, responding to a question from Ward 14 councillor Clr Blessing Tandi on the progress concerning the installation of pre-paid meters, said there was a proposal to procure three or five pre-paid meters for trial run.
“The proposal has been made to start with three or five meters and if everyone is satisfied with the results we will roll it out,” said Engineer Nyatoti.
The urgent need for pre-paid meters comes after the cash-strapped city council complained of the increasing number of defaulters.
In June, the City Council Finance committee resolved to hand over residents and companies that were failing to pay the local authority millions of dollars in unpaid rates to debt collectors in a bid to increase its dwindling revenue inflows.
Finance director Mr Lloyd Musasa revealed that most ratepayers were not settling their bills.
Mr Musasa said the local authority required at least $1,4 million to operate optimally every month, but people were only paying less than a million dollars, leaving a shortfall of about $500 000.
On the other hand, last year the proposal of pre-paid meters in Harare was met with stiff resistance.
Residents and other stakeholders said with the poor performance of the economy at this stage, it was improper to have pre-paid meters.
Online Reporter