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Precious Manomano
Herald Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) is on a revenue collection blitz to recover more than $19 billion owed by a wide range of clients ranging from Government ministries to local authorities, irrigators and individual households.
As at February 28 this year, clients owed Zinwa a total of $19 billion up from the $12 billion owed at the end of November last year.
In a statement, Zinwa corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said Government ministries and departments accounted for $6,7 billion, irrigators $4,4 billion, local authorities $2,6 billion, domestic consumers $2,6 billion, agricultural estates owe $868 million, mines $652 million, churches $50,8 million, parastatals $468,2 million and schools $321 million.
Mrs Munyonga said this huge debtors’ book continued to weigh down Zinwa operations, as the revenue generated from the payment of bills was used to pay for critical inputs such as water treatment chemicals, fuel, electricity and spares.
The organisation also required money to carry out the capital intensive dam maintenance exercises so that dams are kept in a safe state and for the expansion and rehabilitation of the water treatment and reticulation systems.
Zinwa also had to meet statutory obligations that include the payment of taxes, levies and creditors.
“Zinwa is therefore, instituting measures to recover these debts and these measures include the disconnection of defaulting clients, engagement of the debtors themselves and taking legal action against some of the debtors” said Mrs Munyonga.
“The authority is also installing prepaid water meters to help curb the further growth of the debtors’ book with prepaid water meters having already been installed in Karoi, Mvurwi, Chivhu, Murehwa, Gokwe, Nyanga, Mutoko and more recently Glendale where the installation of 1 900 prepaid water meters is underway.”
Mrs Munyonga said the authority continued appealing to all clients whose accounts were in arrears to settle their bills as there existed a very strong relationship between sustainable service delivery and payment for services.
When clients are not paying for the services they get, Zinwa consequently becomes inadequately resourced and incapacitated to provide reliable service.
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