Business / Economy
BCC in 2017 budget fix
07 Oct 2016 at 10:33hrs | Views
Bulawayo 2017 budget risk not being approved by Local Government ministry if the local authority does not speedily deal with its debtors, a senior official has said.
The then Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou raised the concern.
"The Acting Town Clerk said advised that the 2017 budget may not be approved if Council did not address the issue of debtors. She confirmed that Zesa had now instituted legal action to recover its debts owed and Council was being sued for consumption.
"She confirmed that Zesa had taken over Council's infrastructure for power generation etc e.g. power lines, station and buildings. Council's counter claims were greater than Zesa's." reads part of a council report.
The local authority has a debt of $130 million owed to different creditors as at end of August 2016.
The bulk of debts are owed in salaries and allowances ($7 million), statutory contributions, trade creditors, utilities and medical expenses.
In the same period service debtors to council owed a combined $136.5 million.
The city collects on average $5 million per month in cash receipts.
In efforts to recover the money, BCC has since roped to chase after $12 million in unpaid bills by different companies and organisations.
The engaged law firms include: Majoko & Majoko, James Moyo-Majwabu Partners, R Ndlovu and Company, Dube, Banda, Nzarayapenga and Partners, Advocate S K Sibanda and Partners, Mlweli Ndlovu and partners, Lazarus and Sarif and T Hara and Partners.
The then Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou raised the concern.
"The Acting Town Clerk said advised that the 2017 budget may not be approved if Council did not address the issue of debtors. She confirmed that Zesa had now instituted legal action to recover its debts owed and Council was being sued for consumption.
"She confirmed that Zesa had taken over Council's infrastructure for power generation etc e.g. power lines, station and buildings. Council's counter claims were greater than Zesa's." reads part of a council report.
The local authority has a debt of $130 million owed to different creditors as at end of August 2016.
The bulk of debts are owed in salaries and allowances ($7 million), statutory contributions, trade creditors, utilities and medical expenses.
In the same period service debtors to council owed a combined $136.5 million.
The city collects on average $5 million per month in cash receipts.
In efforts to recover the money, BCC has since roped to chase after $12 million in unpaid bills by different companies and organisations.
The engaged law firms include: Majoko & Majoko, James Moyo-Majwabu Partners, R Ndlovu and Company, Dube, Banda, Nzarayapenga and Partners, Advocate S K Sibanda and Partners, Mlweli Ndlovu and partners, Lazarus and Sarif and T Hara and Partners.
Source - Byo24News
