Harare, (New Ziana) – The Chitungwiza Municipality has launched started a door-to-door revenue collection exercise to improve its coffers.
The town of 411 000 people is owed over US$2 billion by ratepayers, a situation that the City Fathers say is affecting the local authority’s capacity to provide efficient services.
The huge debt has led to workers at the municipality not being paid salaries, with this having accumulated since the beginning of the year. In a notice on Thursday, the local authority’s acting town clerk, Japson Nemuseso said the door-to-door revenue collection will also enhance convenience for residents and other stakeholders. The exercise ends on October 17.
“Valued residents and other stakeholders are encouraged to take advantage of this convenience. Our teams will be moving around residential areas and business centres with point-of-sale (POS) machines, allowing you to pay bills from the comfort of your homes, offices, or businesses,” said Nemuseso.
“The teams comprise uniformed municipal police officers and cashiers. Cash payments are accepted. Please note that the teams will also be collecting vital statistics at each household or premise to update the council’s database.
The officials will request mobile numbers to enable the council to send bills electronically via text messages or emails. We encourage all stakeholders to take advantage of this exercise to clear their outstanding bills.”
New Ziana