News / Local
Bulawayo City Council fire levy rejected
05 Feb 2016 at 02:28hrs | Views
THE government has rejected a proposal by the Bulawayo City Council to introduce a fire levy to assist residents with no insurance cover in cases of fire.
Council came up with the proposal to introduce the levy after noting that most residents were failing to pay for services rendered by the Bulawayo Fire Brigade.
According to the latest council minutes, Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou revealed that Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, had turned down their proposal.
"Council has in the past received requests from residents for write off of fire charges, however, the requests had not been acceded to. Therefore, council had proposed the introduction of a fire levy to assist residents who had no insurance policies but the relevant ministry has objected to this," said Zhou.
Last year, Bulawayo's Tabanchu Lodge that was owned by the late politician, Thenjiwe Lesabe, was reduced to ashes after a fire started by an employee burning garbage went out of control and destroyed 11 buildings and property running into thousands of dollars.
The fire was exacerbated by delays as employees took time consulting on who was to foot the bill after being told that the Fire Brigade charges $95 per hour for services rendered.
Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Richard Peterson said the lodge's employees phoned the fire department informing fire fighters of the inferno but instructed them to wait until they received another call summoning them to the property.
Peterson said after the initial call, fire fighters were not summoned for another 11 minutes and when they arrived at the scene, eight structures had been reduced to ashes and two others were ablaze
In a report contained in the latest council report, Peterson indicated that most people were failing to pay for their services and requested that charges be written-off.
He said the fire department should operate with 206 fire fighters yet it was currently employing 133.
Council came up with the proposal to introduce the levy after noting that most residents were failing to pay for services rendered by the Bulawayo Fire Brigade.
According to the latest council minutes, Acting Town Clerk Sikhangele Zhou revealed that Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, had turned down their proposal.
"Council has in the past received requests from residents for write off of fire charges, however, the requests had not been acceded to. Therefore, council had proposed the introduction of a fire levy to assist residents who had no insurance policies but the relevant ministry has objected to this," said Zhou.
Last year, Bulawayo's Tabanchu Lodge that was owned by the late politician, Thenjiwe Lesabe, was reduced to ashes after a fire started by an employee burning garbage went out of control and destroyed 11 buildings and property running into thousands of dollars.
Bulawayo Chief Fire Officer Richard Peterson said the lodge's employees phoned the fire department informing fire fighters of the inferno but instructed them to wait until they received another call summoning them to the property.
Peterson said after the initial call, fire fighters were not summoned for another 11 minutes and when they arrived at the scene, eight structures had been reduced to ashes and two others were ablaze
In a report contained in the latest council report, Peterson indicated that most people were failing to pay for their services and requested that charges be written-off.
He said the fire department should operate with 206 fire fighters yet it was currently employing 133.
Source - Chronicle
