MARTIN MAWAYA
Gweru-Residents have expressed displeasure over Gweru city council plans to levy rates in United States Dollars (USD) saying they are already overburdened by paying bills for no service.
Gweru Mayor Hamutendi Kombayi convened the meeting to consult over the mooted plan to bill residents in USD as the local currency’s value is being eroded fast on a daily basis.
In a notice to stakeholders Councilor Kombayi said the move had been necessitated by the depreciation of the Zimbabwe dollar.
However, stakeholders who turned up for the afternoon meeting thrashed council recommendation and demanded proper consultation meetings in all wards.
Gracia Mashingaidze from Mkoba said the local authority should first consult residents on the USD billing proposal and also be transparent on the rate they are going to use to convert ZWL debts into USD.
“We know as residents we have an obligation to pay for services rendered. Council should also play its part in providing these services. For that reason they need residents buy in. And that is possible through proper consultations. This issue of sugar coating consultation meetings should just stop,” she said.
Other residents however concured with council saying the current currency volatility will make it difficult for the local authority to offer quality services as most of their products are acquired in USD.
In his presentation City of Gweru Deputy Finance Director, Mike Verenga said as of May 31, the local authority incurred a loss of US$3.8 million.
He said to date Council is owed ZW$17 billion.
Verenga added that the billing in USD is the only way to keep pace with the continued increase of inflation in the country.
“The rate in which the official interbank rate is changing makes it difficult for your council to sustain operations because the rate we are using for billing is always behind the interbank rate.
“We therefore analyzed the scenarios and recommended that the only way forward to keep in pace with the increasing interbank rate is to bill in USD so that at the time our stakeholders make their payments we restore the value of the RTGS,” added Verenga.
