Bulawayo residents demand US$-indexed bills

BULAWAYO residents want the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to issue United States dollar (US$)-indexed bills to ratepayers.

Residents feel that the current bills are unclear about US$ charges, raising suspicions that the council could be over-charging them in local currency terms.

The residents made the appeal at a weekend meeting in Old Pumula Hall.

The developments come after BCC announced that it would begin indexing bills in US$. However, its statements still display local currency charges, which has resulted in some residents getting huge bills amounting to $100 000.

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association secretary for administration, Thembelani Dube said residents were demanding a meeting with BCC to discuss service delivery issues and US$ billing.

"The residents' clarion call is that BCC should indicate the fixed US$ charges on the statements that it sends to residents. Bulawayo residents are demanding that the statements sent to them must reflect US$ indexing, or US$ fixed rates so that they can plan how much they should pay in local currency," Dube said.

"Residents want speedy convening of the BCC budget review meeting as they want to understand how the US$ figures are arrived at. They are surprised because the US$-indexing component was never mentioned during the 2022 budget meetings, and through other platforms last year."

BPRA representative Ntombizodwa Ncube, who chaired the weekend meeting, said residents were also concerned about the method used to calculate the rates in local currency.

"Residents feel that most meter readings are estimated, and they do not understand how council comes up with its figures on statements. Some residents are demanding keys to new water meters so that they can also do their own readings to avoid being overcharged."

BCC deputy mayor, Mlandu Ncube said BCC would be coming up with a permanent solution to rates charges and meter readings.

"We use the interbank rate, and soon we will be displaying the water tariffs at all our offices on a daily basis. We are also worried about some of the residents who are unable to do calculations on their own.

"We installed new meters in Pumula South and Nketa, and we are working on a solution to ensure that residents have keys to their water meters so that they check the readings themselves," Ncube said.

At the weekend meeting, residents criticised councillors for endorsing decisions that result in the electorate being charged exorbitant rates for service delivery they deem very poor.