adminLovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
SHURUGWI Town Council has installed pre-paid water meters in a move that council authorities say will go a long way in boosting council’s revenue. Council chairman, Tsungai Makore, told The Chronicle that the local authority has already installed 500 water meters in the Central Business District (CBD) and at some households in the mining town.
“We’ve already rolled out 500 prepaid water meters in the CBD and in some households adjacent to the CBD. The response has been quite positive from the residents and our revenue has improved as a result of this move,” he said.
“As council we intend to roll out an additional 1,500 prepaid water meters by July this year since this is an ongoing process. Housing developments projects which have been completed will have pre-paid water meters installed such as the Unki Housing Project which has about 900 houses and some of them have been completed.”
The Town Council plans to have installed 5,400 meters by year end. Authorities estimate that the development will see revenue realised from water bills going up to $162,000 from the current $25,000 per month. The council chairman said the council will soon engage a financial institution which will sell prepaid water vouchers on its behalf.
“We’re in the process of finalising an agreement which will see us selling the water to them and they in turn sell the prepaid water vouchers charging a small commission on our behalf because they’ve the requisite infrastructure.”
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