HARARE City Council is owed more than $200 million in unpaid bills by residents, industry and commerce as well as government departments.
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Companies top the list of debtors with a total of $130 235 032,00, residents came second with $104 700 517,65, while government owes council $15 505 980,69.
Chitungwiza, Norton, Ruwa and Epworth councils owed Harare a combined $3 451 275,83, making a total of $253 892 806,17 as at May 2014.
City spokesperson Leslie Gwindi said of the total figure owed, $91 678 456,00 was for water.
“Council is taking the following measures to collect the outstanding debts including issuing final demands to defaulters, issuing summons and transfers to external lawyers,” Gwindi said.
He said residents should settle their outstanding bills to avoid losing their properties.
“The city is also negotiating payment plans with big debtors. Door-to-door visits are being conducted to meet the debtors. In some cases, the city resorts to water disconnections to compel debtors to pay up,” Gwindi said.
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“If all ratepayers would honour their obligations, there would be improvement in service delivery, ie, waste management, road maintenance and efficient water supply to the residence. The city requires fuel on a daily basis to be able to collect garbage and to do maintenance work on infrastructure.”
Gwindi said there were some residents who had not paid a single cent towards their bills since July 2013.
