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Bulawayo residents hail tariff freeze

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THE Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) has welcomed council’s proposed $153 million standstill budget for 2017 that freezes tariff hikes, saying the move is humane as ratepayers are hard hit by poverty and could not afford any rate hikes.

THE Bulawayo Progressive Residents’ Association (BPRA) has welcomed council’s proposed $153 million standstill budget for 2017 that freezes tariff hikes, saying the move is humane as ratepayers are hard hit by poverty and could not afford any rate hikes.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

Council finance and development chairperson councillor Mlandu Ncube said the proposed revenue budget is a standstill $105 457 120 with a capital budget of $48 109 346 and with no tariff increase just like the 2016 budget, bringing the total to $153 566 466.

The BPRA information manager Zibusiso Dube said the residents’ association welcomed the budget proposal since ratepayers’ owed council millions in outstanding rate payments, adding any increase would have just ballooned the debt.

“BPRA believes by keeping the revenue budget at the same level, the city fathers and council officials displayed an understanding of the difficult economic challenges that residents are facing due to unemployment, poor remuneration and a cash crisis that makes it difficult for them to raise money to pay their bills,” Dube said in an emailed response to the Southern Eye.

Dube, however, said BPRA took offence with the local authority for allegedly rushing the budget consultation process, hence denying residents a chance to air their views in the formulation of the budget.

He said BPRA felt the budget consultation process was not all-inclusive and can best be described as “an exercise undertaken to tick a box and endorse a budget already formulated by council bureaucrats”.

“BPRA believes that there inadequate time for residents to mobilise and participate in the budget consultations, and may be one of the reasons why attendance at the budget consultation meetings was low.

“Importantly, it denied residents, civil society organisations and residents’ associations an opportunity to prepare their input. Also, the city council has failed to give residents documents such as complete budgets, annual plans and performance reports, which makes it impossible for them to make meaningful contributions at the budget meetings,” Dube said.

Council has said its top priority for 2017 would be to improve water service delivery, health, education, social and ambulance services, public lighting, sewerage and housing and to rehabilitate roads.