News / Local
Harare communications officer excited bout pre-paid water meters installation
03 Jun 2016 at 06:54hrs | Views
Harare Residents Trust has claimed that City of Harare Acting Communications Officer Michael Chideme got really very excited when he said the City of Harare was not going back on the issue of prepaid water meters.
The trust said maybe he was not aware of exactly what he was saying when he did.
"The fact of the matter is that the City of Harare has announced that they are undertaking a pilot project, at 2000 households voluntarily accepting the prepaid water meters in six suburbs, and will have their results after a period of six months," said the trust. "It is ironic that Chideme claims that they are not going back, yet the City of Harare says it is a pilot project. This is the evidence that the HRT always sought to confirm that the prepaid water meters agenda is being driven mostly by municipal employees who stand to benefit more in terms of revenues to settle their salaries arrears, while neglecting service delivery."
The trust said the City of Harare, despite being run by the democratic movement, is continuously acting in an undemocratic manner by ignoring and trying to rise above the citizens' demands.
"The HRT recently submitted a petition, signed by plus 2 000 residents, rejecting the prepaid water meters, and the Acting Mayor has assured the residents that the petition would be tabled in the next Full Council meeting where the Councillors would make a policy position. The protests against the introduction of the prepaid water meters will escalated if the council continues to behave in the manner that they are projecting to the public. Residents should not cooperate with a council that has overly excited officials who violate residents' interests," said the trust.
The HRT said it is closely watching developments and has already put in place an alternative campaign that will force the council to listen.
"At current rates of photocopying documents of US$1 for 50 copies,the residents are prepared to fund the massive awareness campaign that is aimed at urging residents to stop paying their bills totally until the Council begins a genuine progress of dialogue, and seeking the buy in of citizens in their projects. If it is just six months, the municipal employees will end up going for longer periods without being paid, and ultimately the council would be forced to consider further job cuts to match revenue inflows," said the trust.
"Given the above possibility, Chideme, stop being excited and undermining democracy and good governance in the City of Harare by issuing statements that are of a public relations nature, trying to convince yourself that the city is not concerned with the opinions of residents," said the trust.
The trust said maybe he was not aware of exactly what he was saying when he did.
"The fact of the matter is that the City of Harare has announced that they are undertaking a pilot project, at 2000 households voluntarily accepting the prepaid water meters in six suburbs, and will have their results after a period of six months," said the trust. "It is ironic that Chideme claims that they are not going back, yet the City of Harare says it is a pilot project. This is the evidence that the HRT always sought to confirm that the prepaid water meters agenda is being driven mostly by municipal employees who stand to benefit more in terms of revenues to settle their salaries arrears, while neglecting service delivery."
The trust said the City of Harare, despite being run by the democratic movement, is continuously acting in an undemocratic manner by ignoring and trying to rise above the citizens' demands.
"The HRT recently submitted a petition, signed by plus 2 000 residents, rejecting the prepaid water meters, and the Acting Mayor has assured the residents that the petition would be tabled in the next Full Council meeting where the Councillors would make a policy position. The protests against the introduction of the prepaid water meters will escalated if the council continues to behave in the manner that they are projecting to the public. Residents should not cooperate with a council that has overly excited officials who violate residents' interests," said the trust.
The HRT said it is closely watching developments and has already put in place an alternative campaign that will force the council to listen.
"At current rates of photocopying documents of US$1 for 50 copies,the residents are prepared to fund the massive awareness campaign that is aimed at urging residents to stop paying their bills totally until the Council begins a genuine progress of dialogue, and seeking the buy in of citizens in their projects. If it is just six months, the municipal employees will end up going for longer periods without being paid, and ultimately the council would be forced to consider further job cuts to match revenue inflows," said the trust.
"Given the above possibility, Chideme, stop being excited and undermining democracy and good governance in the City of Harare by issuing statements that are of a public relations nature, trying to convince yourself that the city is not concerned with the opinions of residents," said the trust.
Source - Byo24News
