Harare residents have lashed out at the City Council over threats they will be sued over unpaid council rates, despite services in the city still being critically poor.The council has not collected refuse in many parts of the city for years because it could not repair the broken down equipment that it uses. At the same time, full water services have still not resumed, and areas such as Budiriro have not had water for almost a year. Last year, poor water and sewage systems led to a massive cholera outbreak in various parts of the country, including Chitungwiza, which eventually became an epidemic that claimed thousands of lives.
Residents who have refused to settle their bills in the absence of services have now started receiving final letters of demand from the local authority. According to one of the letters sent to a Highlands resident, who
owes US$131, the council warned that failure to pay within seven days would result in legal action being effected without further warning to you, with costs charged to your account.
The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) has now spoken out in defence of the citys residents, who say they will fight back because of the citys dismal service delivery record. CHRA chairperson Simbarashe Moyo explained on Monday that the association has received numerous complaints from residents who have been threatened by the council, despite the lack of service delivery that continues in most areas.
It will only be fair if the charges are proportionate to service delivery or at least measure up to the services available, Moyo said. But at a time when service delivery has not improved, the threats of legal action must stop.
Most residents are also unable to meet the high cost of rates, even when services are being provided, as only a minority of residents are employed. Moyo said the council itself has created the chaos because it ignored pleas by the citys residents to reduce rates to affordable levels in view of the high unemployment levels.
The potential showdown that is now looming between the council and the city residents comes as concerns have been raised over corruption in the city Treasury. Last week, CHRA spoke out about rampant corruption that was seeing money being siphoned off into the coffers of ZANU PF. At the centre of the alleged scandal is the Finance Director Osmos Zvikaramba, who CHRA says is receiving orders from ZANU PF Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, to transfer the funds.
Residents are said to be deeply concerned about the corruption allegations that CHRA has said has the potential to permanently cripple the Citys financial capacity and take away any hope for the revival of quality municipal service delivery in Harare.
Post published in: News