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Justify increase in rates — residents
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
April 09, 2005

http://www.herald.co.zw/index.php?id=42373&pubdate=2005-04-09

RESIDENTS of Harare and satellite towns have urged the commission running the affairs of Harare City Council to justify its rates, tariffs and supplementary charge increases by improving its service delivery.

The commission adopted the budget without objections for implementation on Thursday.

Service delivery in Harare has gone down in recent years owing to unrealistic charges most of which were below cost recovery levels.

The MDC council, which came into power in 2002, was also blamed for poor service delivery. The council was dismissed on the grounds of incompetence while some of its councillors resigned in protest.

The financial situation in council is so bad that authorities have staggered payment of March salaries because of cash flow problems while in most residential areas, water supplies are intermittent and refuse is not collected.

This has all been attributed to inadequate finances and failure to implement quarterly increases last year.

In separate interviews, residents expressed mixed reactions to the budget that will take effect at the beginning of next month.

Mr Mike Banda, who represents informal traders in Harare, said lodgers would be the most affected, as landlords will pass on the cost to them.

"We are going to have an outcry from lodgers," he said.

However, he said the increases for this year were understandable taking into consideration the consultations that took place during the budget formulation exercise.

He added that the commission justified the increases and should receive the support of the residents.

Miss Kuda Mujakachi of Hatfield said the charges on water were unfair because the commission has done nothing to improve water delivery. She complained of burst water pipes that go for days unattended.

Ms Nyasha Chinyahara of Glen View said when talking of the increases, people should not look at percentage increases because they do not mean much.

She said the commission should show its commitment to improving service delivery now that it is charging market rates.

Chairman of the Combined Harare Ratepayers Association Mr Mike Davies said there was not much time for advertising of the budget as stipulated in the Urban Councils Act.

"There is only three weeks to advertise and receive objections," he said.

Announcement of the Harare budget was postponed several times owing to a number of reasons, among them a directive by the Government that rates, tariffs and supplementary charges should be reviewed within the inflationary rate.

Government directed that increases should take into consideration the support that the State was giving to local authorities.

Harare in particular has received several billions of dollars to go towards water, sewerage reticulation and road maintenance.

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