Ratepayers owe Bulawayo City Council US$51 million

THE cash-strapped Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has expressed concern over the rise in indebtedness by rate payers who owe the local authority over US$51 million, which is a major setback to development and provision of basic service delivery.

Residents owe BCC US$31 million in unpaid monthly bills, while Government and businesses owe the US$20 million difference.

Bulawayo mayor, Clr David Coltart said local authority is facing severe challenges in terms of service delivery due to financial constraints.

“Government owes the local authority US$20 million, while businesses and residents owe the bulk of US$31 million. It is quite difficult to perform our duties as council and fulfil our promises because of this,” he said.

Clr Coltart said non-payment of rates brought with it complications, which are dogging the council.

“As council if we fail to provide service delivery people won’t pay. However, the situation goes back to residents who are not paying their rates,” he said.

“Residents are facing various challenges such as burst water pipes, sewage leaks, bad roads, and rate payers still expect service delivery when they are not meeting their obligation.”

Clr Coltart said timeous payment of bills will assist the city in acquiring adequate financial resources to provide the key services such as water, refuse removal and enable it to refurbish dilapidated infrastructure.

He said the development and the refurbishment of essential infrastructure highly depended on ratepayer’s money.

“There are a lot of projects that are lying idle. There are water shortages, malfunctioning sewerage plants and roads that are riddled with potholes. We are also facing a crisis of our staff lacking the zeal to work because of low wages,” said Cllr Coltart.

He said the local authority will be intensifying its debt collection through service restrictions and other measures to all residential and commercial properties whose accounts are in arrears.

“We have introduced a programme where councillors from various wards meet and engage with residents and educate them on the importance of paying their rates. The programme also ensures that residents are given the opportunity to engage with the local authority to come up with payment plans to clear their debts before legal action is taken,” said Clr Coltart.

“With regard to Government it is difficult to get them to pay their rates, but we have held engagements with them and they promised to clear their debts. For those that are not willing to pay their rates we will be instigating legal action against them.”

Bulawayo United Residents Association chairperson Mr Winos Dube urged residents to settle their debts.

avoid paying their rates,” he said.

“Whatever little they manage to raise they should ensure that they make payments. We encourage residents to pay their rates to avoid disconnections and legal action.”

Last week, BCC made a shocking resolution to only allow debit cards bearing the name of the house owner to be used in the payment of rates and water bills before making a dramatic U-turn.