Unpaid bills choke MoG

Staff Writer

GWANDA – IN as much as the Municipality of Gwanda is failing to provide satisfactory service to residents, the local authority has shifted the blame to Government departments and several residents it accuses of not paying their utility bills, it has been learnt.
Ward 9 Councillor, Thulani Moyo, spoke plainly, when he openly told the Ministry of Finance and RBZ officials that they were failing to deliver because of unpaid rates.
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“We are appealing for the Government’s intervention on revenue collection from Government departments.
“The biggest challenge is on Government departments, who consume more water which they are not paying for.
“In the process, we are short-changing our faithful residents. Therefore, I am taking this opportunity to appeal for assistance of paying Government departments bills on time.
“We are paying Zinwa for raw water in cash, and also Zesa, but there are some departments which owe council 2021 bills,” said Cllr Moyo, adding that he was on his way to the Ministry of Finance offices in Harare to take them head-on.
In a recent Press statement, the council finance director, Xolani Dube, told journalists that residents owed council over $200 million, while institutional clients such as Government departments owed over $130 million.
Besides the complaints, Cllr Moyo also appealed for earth moving equipment from the Treasury, saying if Treasury bought them such machinery, the issue of road maintenance and construction would be a thing of the past.
“If you buy Council’s earth moving equipment, this will cut on costs, which are usually incurred by council departments.
“Purchasing of these machines is a once-off and once done council will then do road maintenance on their own.
As for quarry and river sand, these are not an issue, considering that they are in abundance in the province,” explained Cllr. Moyo

TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE NOTICE
Notice is hereby given that, there will be a temporary road closure on Spitzkop North road leading to Injanji Business centre for the installation of an underground armoured electric cable. The road will be closed on the 4th of November 2022 between 9am and 14:00 pm. Access will only be granted to emergency services at all times