The Zimbabwean understands the council has experienced a myriad of operational challenges with the service at a deplorable standard. The town mayor, Lionel DeNecker, confirmed the predicament and attributed the matter to non-payment of rentals and other services by residents.
Yes, it is very unfortunate that some of our employees here have not been paid for the past two months, he said. The reason behind this is that we are failing to generate income as residents are failing to pay their bills, thereby straining our budget and seriously compromising the operations of the municipality. DeNecker said the problem arose following the dollarization of the economy in 2009.
Its a catch 22 situation, residents want us to provide services which they in turn refuse to pay for, he said. In order for us to have smooth running operations both parties must help each other since workers salaries are supposed to be generated through debt collection.
Demoralised workers alleged top council officials, who earn hefty salaries, received their money, while those at the bottom of the rung did not. They appealed to the city fathers to take their interests into consideration. The council has been under the spotlight for several months after reports indicated they were paying their top officials as much as $10,000 while struggling to provide normal services.
Post published in: News