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Johnsias Mutonhori, Midlands Correspondent
PEOPLE with disabilities are set to be exempted from paying rates as Gweru City Council is planning to cushion them in a bid to improve their livelihoods.
Those who are to benefit should be principal permanent residents of the properties they occupy and have a letter from the Social Welfare Department which highlights their state of need.
In a notice, the city council has encouraged people with disabilities to submit full details and proof of property ownership to the city’s finance department by 15 March for consideration.
“The individuals should submit qualifying documents that include a letter from the Social Welfare highlighting the need, a certified copy of title deeds and produce the original, original birth certificate and photocopy of their birth certificate. People applying for the programme must note that they should be the principal permanent resident of the property,” reads part of the notice released by council.
The programme is still in its preliminary stages and council said it is gathering data and studying the feasibility before it rolls it out. The development has been received with cheers from people with disabilities although they noted that not many of them are property owners for them to be in the bracket of beneficiaries of the facility.
President of the National Council of Disabled Persons in Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) Mrs Annah Shiri welcomed the development but said only a few PWDs own houses.
“This is a welcome development to PWDs and the society at large, however, we continue to engage the council so that even those staying at their parents’ homes also benefit. It’s not all PWDs who own houses due to the discrimination that we still face in the allocation of housing stands. The idea is noble but city fathers should have extended the exemption to PWDs after consultations with our leadership,” she said.
derick.khumalo