…as economic hardships, inflation continues to haunt residents
Tinaani Nyabereka
Gweru -Central government has approved Gweru City Council’s ZW$4.1 billion budget for the year 2022, a move that has seen council’s billing tariffs having a 30 percent increase on domestic services while commercial services have seen a 130 percent hike.
The 30 percent increase will see town burial for adults pegged at ZW$4 400 from ZW$3 300 while those of children will now fork out ZW$2 220 from the previous ZW$1 708.
Vendors’ licenses rose to ZW$1 695 from ZW$1 304 while ambulance charges per call increased to ZW$2 542 up from ZW$1 956.
Commenting on the budget on February 7 2022, Gweru Residents and Ratepayers Association (GRRA) director, Conerlia Selipiwe said the budget was fair as compared to previous budgets the city had.
He added that it was worrisome as residents didn’t have disposable income to cater for their bills.
“As residents we never had much objection or raised any red flags on this budget but as you know our local authority didn’t engage residents much on budget consultations, citing Covid-19 protocols.
“As GRRA we have managed to engage our structures and they felt the 30percent increase is fair as compared to previous budgets we had, even looking at the last year one.
“As residents we appreciate but our greatest worry now comes on the issue that residents don’t have disposable income on them. This has been worsened by the economic hardships and inflation which continue to affect the business environment every day. We don’t even know how we are going to cope as we go,” added Selipiwe.
Last year Gweru Council worked with a ZW$3, 2 billion budget whose performance brought concerns among residents, with most calling for a tariff reduction.
GCC director of finance, Owen Masimba further confirmed the approval saying the budget was far below the price movements on the markets.
“I can confirm that the Government has approved our 2022 budget of ZW$4, 1 billion. This has seen domestic tariffs increased by 30 percent and commercial tariffs increased by 130 percent.
“It is worth noting that this was far below the obtaining price movements on the market. It’s common cause that as the year progresses the operating costs of council will be increasing while the revenue frontier remains stagnant.
“If the council does not get a supplementary budget, operations will likely be depressed to the extent of the mismatch between our costs and revenues,” said Masimba.
He added that, council was working towards partnerships, joint ventures to strengthen its revenue base.
“We shall play our part in ensuring that Gweru moves towards attaining an upper middle-income status.
“We will work towards pulling investment to the city, generating employment and in doing so, growing the gross domestic product of the city,” he said.
Last week, Gweru council was affected by a series of power cuts due to outstanding ZW$247million ZESA bills.
The cuts saw the city’s main water pumping plants being switched off.
In a statement, GCC chairperson for the finance committee Councillor Martin Chivhoko highlighted how the local authority was failing to meet its debt as a result of outstanding bills from the residents who were struggling to cope up with the last year’s ZW$3,2 billion budget tariffs.
