…bakery remains operational,
uses buckets to fetch water from nearby tap
MASVINGO—
A health time bomb is ticking at DCK Bakery after it has emerged that the city
council disconnected water on their premises over non-payment of rates.
The
city council disconnected DCK Bakery on March 23 but the bakery has been
operating since with sources saying that they were fetching water for baking
using buckets at a nearby tap.
City
of Masvingo Acting Town Clerk Edward Mukaratirwa confirmed the developments but
said he was unaware that the bakery was still operational without running
water.
“Water
has been disconnected at DCK Bakery because of unpaid bills. I was not aware
that it is still operating and I will send the health department personnel to
do investigations before taking action,” said Murakatirwa.
DCK
bread has become popular in Masvingo owing to its affordability and freshness.
Mukaratirwa
could not disclose how much the council was owed in bills by DCK Bakery and the
criteria used to target the institution when there are other heavy debtors
chiefly government departments which owe the council in excess of $30 million.
In
December last year, the city council threatened to take the police to debt
collectors in an effort to recover a debt which had ballooned to $10 709 881,22
as at October 31 and gave the law enforcement agents a 14 day ultimatum to
comply.
Council
is owed in excess of $130 million with the police, army and prisons topping the
list of heavy debtors.
The army and
prisons are said to be committing to payment plans to settle their debts but
the police has remained stubborn though receiving uninterrupted services.
Of the $131,2
million total debt owed to the city council, residential areas owe a combined
45 percent, institutions owe 43 percent and the Central Business District (CBD)
owe 12 percent.
