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BULAWAYO: Residents under the auspices of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) have called for transparency in the administration of rates amid claims the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) continues to issue ratepayers with ‘suspicious’ interest charges on their monthly bills levied by the local authority.
THE CITIZEN BULLETIN. 21 NOV. 2018 — Residents under the auspices of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) have accused the Bulawayo City Council of lying about scrapping off interest rates on bills owed the local authority by residents.
On the sidelines of an inaugural Asset Declaration Meeting convened by BPRA in Nkulumane recently, residents told The Citizen Bulletin that they were disappointed that BCC authorities had reneged on its commitment to scrap of interest charges on arrears.
“The city council has engaged us regards clearing our bills and even advised us to pay the little we have but to our surprise, the bill still continues to be higher than we thought it would be," said Bishop Mpofu, a residents’ leader under the banner of BPRA.
Early this year, BCC announced that it would scrap-off interest on unpaid bills if residents enter into a payment plan with the local authority. But residents allegedly during the BPRA meeting, that the local authority had lied about the commitment.
“The interest won’t end," Mpofu allegedly. "The Smith regime never did this to us and instead, it would only charge interests on unpaid bills annually.”
As part of efforts to address the matter, residents urged their councilor Rodney Jele (Ward 22) to raise the matter during council meetings, failure of which they would petition the local authority.
Cllr Jele indicated during a presentation that payment of rates in the city remained poor with only 30 percent of the total ratepayers having cleared rates for housing and water in Oct. 2018.
He also revealed that BCC was in the process of crafting a policy that will enable ratepayers to have their bills scrapped off if they pay 50 percent of their outstanding arrears.
"It is painful that people working in the industry earn a paltry $200 and at the same time owe the city council," Jele said after submitting his papers with a list of his assets and interests.
"Non-payment of rates also affects salaries for council employees.”
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