News / National
Chitungwiza faces collapse
15 Sep 2015 at 06:31hrs | Views
CHITUNGWIZA Municipality faces total collapse amid revelations that its monthly revenue collections have dwindled to between $700 000 and $900 000 against a wage bill of $1,4 million. This leaves the MDC-T-run council without a cent for service delivery.
In an interview last Friday, Mayor Philip Mutoti blamed the situation on the high staffing levels, contending that council needed to dismiss 800 employees. The municipality has 1 620 workers.
"Collection of revenue in our town is very poor owing to the fact that most of the residents are unwilling to pay. They owe council about $27 million. If they pay their bills, we could have been receiving $4m to $5m monthly. We are only getting $700 000 to $900 000," he said.
Mayor Mutoti explained why council was failing to pay its workers and provide basic services.
"Coming to the issue of our salary bill, if everyone gets paid, the money to cover that should be $1,4 million. The revenue we are collecting every month is not enough. We are over-staffed. Instead of having 600 workers, council has 1 620 workers."
Mayor Mutoti said it was impossible for council to ensure 30 percent of revenue generated paid workers while the remaining 70 percent was channelled towards service delivery as directed by Government.
"The money we are getting cannot afford us the opportunity to provide our residents with water which we are buying from Harare. We are also failing to collect refuse, pay salaries and provide other essential services to residents," he said.
Mayor Mutoti said council was also heavily indebted.
"We inherited a council which was already facing financial challenges after the former town clerk, Godfrey Tanyanyiwa, borrowed $24m from a local bank. We have serviced part of the loan. We still owe the bank $7 million," he said.
"At the end of the day we remain with nothing since part of the money is being paid to that bank. We need money for salaries and road maintenance."
He said they were weighing other options of raising funds.
Mayor Mutoti said their only hope was targeting residents who bought stands from land barons and were not paying rates to council.
"The Urban Development Corporation (UDCORP) was tasked to collect money from all the illegal structures but it is delaying. We are losing over $2 million every month", he said.
The mayor said council would convene an emergency meeting this week to discuss ways to save Chitungwiza from collapse. MDC-T councils are performing badly and this has been blamed on councillors, some whom have been described to be "functionally illiterate''.
In an interview last Friday, Mayor Philip Mutoti blamed the situation on the high staffing levels, contending that council needed to dismiss 800 employees. The municipality has 1 620 workers.
"Collection of revenue in our town is very poor owing to the fact that most of the residents are unwilling to pay. They owe council about $27 million. If they pay their bills, we could have been receiving $4m to $5m monthly. We are only getting $700 000 to $900 000," he said.
Mayor Mutoti explained why council was failing to pay its workers and provide basic services.
"Coming to the issue of our salary bill, if everyone gets paid, the money to cover that should be $1,4 million. The revenue we are collecting every month is not enough. We are over-staffed. Instead of having 600 workers, council has 1 620 workers."
Mayor Mutoti said it was impossible for council to ensure 30 percent of revenue generated paid workers while the remaining 70 percent was channelled towards service delivery as directed by Government.
"The money we are getting cannot afford us the opportunity to provide our residents with water which we are buying from Harare. We are also failing to collect refuse, pay salaries and provide other essential services to residents," he said.
"We inherited a council which was already facing financial challenges after the former town clerk, Godfrey Tanyanyiwa, borrowed $24m from a local bank. We have serviced part of the loan. We still owe the bank $7 million," he said.
"At the end of the day we remain with nothing since part of the money is being paid to that bank. We need money for salaries and road maintenance."
He said they were weighing other options of raising funds.
Mayor Mutoti said their only hope was targeting residents who bought stands from land barons and were not paying rates to council.
"The Urban Development Corporation (UDCORP) was tasked to collect money from all the illegal structures but it is delaying. We are losing over $2 million every month", he said.
The mayor said council would convene an emergency meeting this week to discuss ways to save Chitungwiza from collapse. MDC-T councils are performing badly and this has been blamed on councillors, some whom have been described to be "functionally illiterate''.
Source - the herald
