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NewsDay

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Contractors abandon council projects

News
A number of companies contracted by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) are leaving the projects incomplete citing the harsh operating environment and the volatility of the Zimbabwe dollar, a council report shows.

By NQOBANI NDLOVU

A number of companies contracted by the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) are leaving the projects incomplete citing the harsh operating environment and the volatility of the Zimbabwe dollar, a council report shows.

This comes at a time the local authority has been pushing for an increase in rates and tariffs through a supplementary budget, despite resistance from ratepayers.

The council is arguing that the budget has been eroded by runaway inflation, a situation it says has negatively impacted on its capacity to offer efficient services.

A report of the council’s environmental management and engineering services committee noted that contracted companies were also failing to deliver, owing to the harsh economic environment, with some of them leaving incomplete projects.

“The chairperson (Alderman Norman Hlabani) was concerned that the situation was getting out of hand and felt that the director of engineering services and the financial director (Simela Dube and Kempton Ndimande) were not putting much effort to address the situation,” the report reads.

Hlabani sought clarification on other plans that could be put in place to curb the challenges. He suggested that council should vigorously embark on selling stands in foreign currency in order to raise the required funds.

“In response the director of engineering services, advised that he had presented a report to the joint finance and environmental management and engineering services committee meeting held on March 12, 2019, regarding the unavailability of fuel,” reads the report.

“Hardly, enough fuel was being received for normal operations. Contractors and suppliers were quoting in United States dollars, which forex council did not have. Some contractors were even abandoning projects because of economic challenges and it was difficult to plan in such an environment.”

City fathers also said the country’s procurement processes compounded the situation.

“The other challenge was the procurement process. Previously in 2008, there was a procurement committee which sat everyday. Currently, all procurement of major items was through the procurement board in Harare. The procurement regulations were affecting council…”

The BCC is pushing for a 56% rates hike, arguing its 2019 RTGS$212 million budget has been ravaged by inflation that has seen costs of goods and services skyrocketing beyond reach.