Alarm bells as Bulawayo water levy goes missing

A CLOUD of controversy has arisen within the Bulawayo City Council over what the local authority initially termed the Insiza Pipeline duplication water levy, where residents were required to pay a dollar every month for the project.

Councillors recently questioned council officials on how much had been raised by the local authority since the levy was introduced in 2012, from over 120 000 water accounts in the city.

Rough calculations reveal that the local authority should have raised no less than $4 000 000 which councillors have accused council officials of failing to account for. However, council officials insist that only $2,8 million has been raised.

According to the latest council report, councillors demanded that council officials account for what has been raised with some alleging that the amount could not be accounted for.

"Responding to a question from Councillor S. Chigora on the water levy, the acting town clerk confirmed that the one dollar levy per household was still in place and would be maintained in respect of the 2016 budget. At the current rate of revenue inflows, the Insiza water pipe duplication project would take long to realise in view of the huge expense involved ($27-$30 million). Focus had now shifted to the Epping Forest Project for more immediate results as the latter required less funding," reads the report.

Councillors who spoke to this publication further questioned the authenticity of the figure which council officials were alleging had been raised to date.

"What happened is that in 2013 when we had not been sworn in as councillors, the officials took advantage of this vacuum to somehow change the resolution on that levy but to date we have not received any feedback at all, we want these officials to account for these missing funds because we cannot be making residents pay $1 yet nothing is happening.

"If they say we have raised just $2,8 million they must tell us what happened to the rest of the money because as we speak we all know how many water accounts we have so it is easy to calculate how much should be in our coffers," said one councillor.

Responding to questions sent by Sunday News, BCC senior public relations officer Mrs Nesisa Mpofu failed to disclose the official figure that had been raised to date, saying officials responsible for the account had not got back to her by end of day Friday.

She, however, said they had resolved to redirect the fund to another water project - Epping Forest - but further failed to state what had been done to date regarding the project.

"Council passed a resolution and agreed to partner with the Government of Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe National Water Authority) and contribute towards the cost of implementing the Epping Forest Borehole project. This project is set to augment the city's current water supply with an additional 10 mega litres of water per day and it is estimated to cost about $4 million. Council resolved that they meet their financial obligations by using the $1 pipeline levy as a quick win solution to the city's water problems," said Mrs Mpofu.

She said the Insiza pipeline duplication will require more than $30 million for implementation hence it would take years to raise enough funds for the project. The latest development comes at a time when the city is facing a possible water crisis with reports that two of its supply dams - Upper Ncema and Umzingawne - face decommissioning before the end of the year, a move that might see the local authority reintroducing their stringent water shedding regime.