News / Local
Bulawayo City Council starts budget consultations
10 Oct 2013 at 12:08hrs | Views
THE Bulawayo City Council has started conducting budget consultation meetings with residents in the city's 29 wards to determine priorities for 2014.
In a statement yesterday, the Town Clerk, Mr Middleton Nyoni, said the budget meetings would be facilitated by council officials and councillors in specified venues in the city's 29 wards starting from today up to 19 October.
"The aim of the consultation meetings is to review the 2013 budget performance and to determine priority areas for 2014," said Mr Nyoni.
According to the schedule released by council the first meeting would be held at 2pm today at Stanley Hall in Makokoba.
Tomorrow 10 meetings will be conducted in Wards two, three, six, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 26 and 29.
The remaining wards would conduct the meetings on Sunday with the last meeting set for UMC Church in Ward 16 starting from 2pm.
Primary schools and community halls would be used as venues for the meetings while Ward Four would conduct its meeting at Rio Hotel in Waterford.
The council's senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, urged residents to attend the meetings in large numbers to ensure their input was taken into consideration.
"These are critical meetings that determine the level of service that council will offer and how much residents will be prepared to finance that service.
"It is at these meetings that residents and council would set out priorities for next year," she said.
Last year a majority of residents from eastern suburbs and the city centre stayed away from the meetings during which council came up with an evaluation roll, which was used to determine rates for the areas.
However, when the rates were implemented at the beginning of the year bills skyrocketed by up to 1 000 percent, sparking an outcry from residents.
The council was forced to reconvene the consultation meetings and later on slashed the bills.
The local authority is struggling to provide efficient service delivery with concerns over poor roads, accommodation shortages, salary backlog, debts to different service providers and inadequate refuse collection.
Last year's budget was $168 million.
In a statement yesterday, the Town Clerk, Mr Middleton Nyoni, said the budget meetings would be facilitated by council officials and councillors in specified venues in the city's 29 wards starting from today up to 19 October.
"The aim of the consultation meetings is to review the 2013 budget performance and to determine priority areas for 2014," said Mr Nyoni.
According to the schedule released by council the first meeting would be held at 2pm today at Stanley Hall in Makokoba.
Tomorrow 10 meetings will be conducted in Wards two, three, six, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 26 and 29.
The remaining wards would conduct the meetings on Sunday with the last meeting set for UMC Church in Ward 16 starting from 2pm.
Primary schools and community halls would be used as venues for the meetings while Ward Four would conduct its meeting at Rio Hotel in Waterford.
The council's senior public relations officer, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, urged residents to attend the meetings in large numbers to ensure their input was taken into consideration.
"These are critical meetings that determine the level of service that council will offer and how much residents will be prepared to finance that service.
"It is at these meetings that residents and council would set out priorities for next year," she said.
Last year a majority of residents from eastern suburbs and the city centre stayed away from the meetings during which council came up with an evaluation roll, which was used to determine rates for the areas.
However, when the rates were implemented at the beginning of the year bills skyrocketed by up to 1 000 percent, sparking an outcry from residents.
The council was forced to reconvene the consultation meetings and later on slashed the bills.
The local authority is struggling to provide efficient service delivery with concerns over poor roads, accommodation shortages, salary backlog, debts to different service providers and inadequate refuse collection.
Last year's budget was $168 million.
Source - Byo24News
