18 000 non functioning water meters in Bulawayo

Bulawayo has 18 000 non-functional water meters that the council is failing to replace due to financial constraints.

The local authority revealed that it had only managed to replace 4 000 non-functioning meters from funds availed by the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe.

The issue was raised at a council meeting where councillors sought clarification on whether Council had the responsibility to replace malfunctioning equipment.

"In response the Director of Engineering Services (Simela Dube) explained that in the event of a consumer suspecting meter faults, an application for meter tests could be made at the Revenue Hall for a fee.

"If the meter was found functioning the fee was forfeited to Council," reads a council report.

"However, if the meter was not working the fee was credited to the consumer's account. A record of non- functionality meters was available which to date stood at 18 000. The hindering factor for replacing non – functional meters was finance. Through the IDBZ project 4 000 non-functional meters were replaced accordingly."

Meanwhile, councillors also raised concern over the inefficient performance of the Call Centre, an issue which had been raised in previous meetings.

"In response the Town Clerk (Middleton Nyoni) explained that the Call Centre challenges were due to maintenance problems of equipment. In view of this Council would send two personnel to train on equipment maintenance and thus ensure efficiency at the Call Centre," read the council report.