adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
A STORM is brewing at the Unity Village flea market in Bulawayo over a $20,000 water bill that has seen traders at the market going for three days without water.The traders, operating as Masakhelane Traders Association, have accused their committee of misappropriating funds resulting in the Bulawayo City Council disconnecting water at the market.
Unity Village Flea Market houses about 200 traders.
When our news crew visited the flea market yesterday, the toilets were locked, forcing stall owners to use toilets at nearby business premises.
They accused their committee, chaired by Tracy Sibanda, of embezzling funds and causing serious inconveniences to traders who paid their rentals in full.
Sibanda’s committee is responsible for collecting cash from traders to pay water and electricity bills.
“This flea market was sold to us by a local businessman. We agreed to form an association and subsequently elected a committee to oversee the payment of bills and maintenance of the premises. Stall owners are paying $35, while tenants pay $55 every month,” said Amos Mulenga, a trader.
“The problem is that our committee has not been paying bills and this has resulted in the city council disconnecting water. Every month $8,000 is collected from stall holders and tenants.”
He said the association has been trying to replace the committee without success after its term of office expired in February this year.
“We’ve been trying since last year to find out where the money is going but the committee is not forthcoming with information. They claim that they’re spending about $1,000 on repairs but there’s no sign of any maintenance work taking place here,” Mulenga charged.
We weren’t even told how much we owe the city council and nobody bothered to explain what’s going on. We’re worried that the council’s health department will soon descend on us and stop us from operating because this is not healthy at all.”
He said they tried to invite auditors to look at the association’s books but were faced with stiff resistance by the committee. The committee, Mulenga said, has no treasurer and secretary.
“The treasurer and the secretary of the committee stepped down after realising that there was corruption going on but the others chose to stay, abusing our money,” he said.
Nomsa Dube, another stall holder said: “The council disconnected our water. We asked our committee which is responsible for paying the bills and were told the matter was being taken care of.”
Some tenants threatened to stop paying rent, saying they were disappointed by their committee’s way of conducting business.
“This isn’t fair. I don’t see the reason why we should pay rent when we do don’t have water. It means someone is diverting the money to their own use. We want a new committee that will operate in an ethical and responsible manner,” said a tenant.
Sibanda said: “It’s none of your business. After all, the city council always disconnects water everywhere.”
Online Reporter