CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has threatened to take legal action against thousands of residents defaulting on the payment of rates and water bills. Edgar Gweshe
The council said non-payment of bills was negatively affecting service delivery in the dormitory town.
Last week, the municipality wrote to residents expressing concern at the irregular payments of bills since the scrapping of their debts in June last year.
Local Government minister Ignatius Chombo, just before the July 31 elections, directed all local authorities in the country to write off debts accrued by residents.
The directive resulted in local authorities losing millions of dollars in revenue, with almost all of them now struggling to provide essential services and pay salaries for workers.
Chitungwiza Town Council said once again bills for most residents were building up fast.
“Now that it is a matter of a fresh start, residents are cordially encouraged to make monthly payments regularly so that such payments remain relatively low and affordable,” reads the notice to residents.
“Please pay up your bills on time and avoid them building up to huge amounts that would become difficult to pay. So do not involve yourselves in unnecessary litigations, which are a source of inconvenience to peaceful co-existence.”
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The council said due to late or non-payment of bills by residents, service delivery was lagging behind.
The local authority was struggling to offer services such as refuse collection and road maintenance.
“The new-look Chitungwiza is relentlessly poised to propel growth and development of the town in order to achieve city status,” said the council.
“Various services in the town such as roads, drainages, refuse collection, water, sewage, salaries require to be attended to and addressed accordingly on time.”
Chitungwiza town clerk George Makunde told NewsDay that non- payment of bills has impacted negatively on revenue collection.
“Residents get services in advance and pay later, but due to the current situation, it has been hard for us to provide services because of non-payment,” he said.
Makunde said on average council was now collecting 48% revenue as less than 50% of ratepayers were paying their dues every month.
