Chinhoyi(Telegraph) –Residents owe the Chinhoyi City Council over $35 million, a situation which has seen it failing to pay suppliers and service providers.

City of Chinhoyi chamber secretary Abel Gotora told a recent budget consultative meeting that council had debts amounting to $35 million and at one time, the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC) attached its property after it failed to pay outstanding arrears.

Gotora urged residents to play their part and pay their dues.

However residents urged the council to engage in income generating projects so as to have other sources of income besides rates.

A resident from ward 3 said council should build hostels to rent to Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) students as there was an acute shortage of accommodation and it could also venture into farming.

“Students from CUT are coming to us daily looking for accommodation because it is inadequate, so I think the council should build hostels so that it can generate income.

“The other project they can undertake is farming, since farming is one of the businesses that are paying big rewards in Zimbabwe. I think it will be an ideal project for the council,” said the resident.

Gotora said council had already applied for land for farming projects to sustain it during difficult times like the ones it was presently in.
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He said council could not carry out the projects because it did not have funds since residents owed it huge amounts of money.

In the past councils used to undertake income generating projects like running beer halls and breweries, farming instead of just waiting for rates.

New Ziana