By Decide Nhendo
Chiredzi Rural District Council has applauded response by commercial sugarcane farmers to a 21-day ultimatum they were given from February 8, 2024 to clear their land development levies debt which was reaching up to US$2 million.
Following Chiredzi RDC’s last and final meeting held with commercial farmers where the farmers were informed on council’s decision to engage debt collectors to recover over US$1.5 million of land development levies which they had not been paying since 2017, farmers responded and came to council and made plans to cover their debt.
Chiredzi RDC Chairperson, Aspect Mashingaidze said he was happy by the response which he said farmers were responsible.
“I am happy because of farmers’ response to an engagement meeting we held around February 8 concerning their debt which was reaching nearly US$1.5 million, without wasting much time after the meeting the farmers started coming to council to settle their debts making payment plans,” he said.
“They came and left what they had since most of them said they did not have money since it is off season and we managed to get around ZW$200 million and US$30 000 which we are going to use mainly on maintaining their roads since the sugarcane harvesting season is just around the corner,” said Mashingaidze.
Mashingaidze said with the little farmers have paid to council they have engaged transport department to make sure they service council graders so that in the coming two weeks they will be running as council engineers were working to establish roads that needed more attention.
“Since we promised farmers that the development levies they are paying are for development, we have asked our transport team to fix three council graders and two are already running, our engineers are already compiling total kilometers of roads that need attention,” he said
He said the payment plan was going to work with stop order facility through which a letter is going to be sent to millers like Hippo Valley Estates and Triangle and when farmers harvest their sugarcane and receive their dues from millers a certain agreed amount will be paid direct to cover development levy debt.
He advised farmers to come to council and make council aware that they have artillery and are capable of maintaining their roads so that the council can chip in assisting with their machinery or fuel as common purpose is for development.
He also said farmers with private machines like dumper trucks and graders like Mkwasine Management Committee (MMC) must write to council so that council engineers will come and access cost of labor on certain projects they want to partake on as it will help those farmers to be excused from levies because of their development vision which is also council’s vision.
“Farmers who have own private machinery like MMC in Mkwasine who are determined to maintain their roads or do any other certain developmental projects must write to council making it aware so that council engineers can be sent to access value of cost they insert on those specific projects so that they can be given discounts when they pay development levies,” he said.
Most commercial farmers were dodging their bills from 2017 up to date except for an honest few who were paying from 2014, and each farmer must pay US$ 5 per hectare of which most farmers have 20 hectares which means they will only be eligible to pay US$ 100 per year.
