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| City of Masvingo mayor Collen Maboke |
…as Zesa abdicates duty
Blessed Chauke
In its
proposed 2021 budget, the City of Masvingo intends to introduce a public
lighting levy, a fund which the local authority says will be used to repair and
refurbish the public lighting infrastructure in the city.
The
public lighting levy will be attached to the water bills and each household
will be billed $90 in local currency effective January 2021.
The
city council says that there is an agreement in place which compels the power
utility Zesa to maintain the city’s public lighting infrastructure but says has
since abdicated on the duty.
“While
there is an agreement that placed an obligation of Zesa to maintain the city’s
public lighting infrastructure, Zesa has not been forthcoming in honoring this
obligation and the agreement has become a subject of dispute,” reads part of
the budget proposal.
There
has been calls from residents for council to fix the public lighting system as
theft cases were on the rise with thieves taking advantage of the darkness.
“While
a solution is being sought, council believes that measures have to be taken to
ensure that the security of our residents does not continue to be compromised
through lack of functional public functional systems.
“In this
regard, we propose to introduce a new billing item of public lighting with
effect from January 2021 at a rate of $90.
“This
fund will be ring fenced to cater for materials required in the maintenance and
installation of our public lighting infrastructure,” reads the budget proposal.
The
city council also proposes to introduce the fire and rescue services levy aimed
at equipping the fire and rescue department.
“Council
realizes that this disaster and emergency response section has become
significantly incapacitated in terms of equipment and resources. In order
to improve the efficiency of this section in responding to emergencies such as
natural disasters, fire and road traffic accidents, we propose to introduce a
dedicated funding line with an initial proposal of $90 per month per account.
“The
funds received in this regard will be ring fenced and utilized to procure
equipment and other emergency response materials such as personal protective
clothing.
“This
amount will adjust at 50% per quarter should inflationary developments call for
such adjustments,” reads the proposed budget.
