Officials at the BCC said the local authority had contacted Biti out of desperation because government departments were refusing to clear their outstanding debts.
A report by the BCC Finance and Development committee shows that government departments owe the cash-strapped council $5,679,946.
Bulawayo Deputy Mayor, Amen Mpofu, said the failure by government departments to settle their debts was impacting the council’s ability to effectively carry out service delivery operations.
“Service delivery depends on the rate of payment by the government departments and the debt is ballooning on a daily basis. As long as government and other departments owe us such huge amounts, it is impossible for us to provide acceptable standards of service. This is why we want to engage Biti directly,” Mpofu said in an interview.
The BCC Finance and Development Committee report shows that Water Resources Ministry tops the list of government departments indebted to the council as it owes it $2,891,703. 83 followed by the Education Ministry, which owes council $758,874.14.
The Ministry of Higher Education owes $100,948.23, the Ministry of Defence $191,968.71 and the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing $190,560.84.
Health and Child Welfare is yet to settle its $163,638.23 debt, while the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare owes $17,856.85 and the Ministry of Transport $22,231.55 with CMED at $26,041.98.
The Agriculture Ministry owes council $2,836.89, the Finance Ministry $1478.24 and the Justice Ministry $18,118.26.
Local authorities do not get government funding during Budget presentations and they survive on rates and service charges.
Post published in: News