Evidence Chipadza
GWERU: The water situation in Gweru continues to worsen as residents owe Gweru City Council (GCC) ZWL $361 million outstanding debts from bills.
This was revealed by GCC Assistant Finance Director, Owen Masimba at a budget consultative meeting which was held at Gweru Civic Centre.
“Residents owe the Council about 368 million dollars outstanding debts. People are not paying their dues and this continues to affect our service delivery,” said Masimba.
GCC is also still choking in debt as Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) increased its tariffs by 275%.
In a previous State of the City Address, Mayor Josiah Makombe highlighted that at some point, ZESA once disconnected the power supply at Gwenhoro.
“On the 17th of May 2021, ZETDC switched off us at our water treatment plants over a debt of ZWL $143,249,129 and only restored supplies after we had committed ourselves to a monthly payment plan of ZWL $13 million. I am appealing to residents and other stakeholders to pay their bills so that we continue to supply water,” said Makombe.
3 high lift pumps were purchased using devolution funds to curb water challenges, but load shedding continues to affect the pumping process.
Meanwhile, the local authority has managed to install and commission two solar-powered piped water schemes in Senga and Mkoba 16, courtesy of WeltHungerHilfe.
