Zimpapers Logo

In July 2013, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) abided by the Government’s directive to write off debts owed by consumers and while the Authority’s financial position suffered as a result, the move was understandably celebrated by many consumers as it relieved them of huge debts.

In simple terms, the debt forgiveness order meant that as of August 2013, consumers had all their debt effectively reduced to zero which meant that from then, everyone started on a clean slate.

It was therefore widely expected that the debt cancellation would bolster consumers’ commitment towards servicing their water so as to avoid a repeat of the same scenario in future.

After the write off, debts became manageable and it was thought consumers would come forward and pay their bills, a development that would have greatly boosted ZINWA’s capacity to carry out its mandate as provided for by law

Sadly, less than two years after the write off, the Authority is unimpressed by the sheer lack of consumer compliance which has seen a gradual rise in debts.

ZINWA has noticed that unless a comprehensive debt management and recovery strategy is devised and diligently implemented there is a strong possibility that, in a few years from now, we may have the same scenario as that of 2013 when consumers’ water bills had grown to unprecedented levels.

Already, a substantial number of consumers have deliberately accumulated huge debts on the assumption that Government would announce yet another debt relief.

It is regrettable that some consumers have become reluctant to honour their water bills misguidedly hoping for another benevolent gesture from government.

This has severely compromised service delivery since the Authority is now forced to rely on the little revenue generated from those who honour their bills to sustain its operational costs.

Ironically, the same consumers who notoriously default payment are often on the forefront complaining about poor service delivery.

However, nothing can be further from the truth.

While it is true that the water sector has been dogged by a plethora of operational and technical challenges over the years, the situation for ZINWA is compounded further by serious lack of funds as a result poor revenue inflow.

It is becoming more unsustainable to provide service to consumers when, despite the fact that all their debts were cancelled less than twenty four months ago, the majority of them are still reluctant to meet their end of the bargain.

Calls to encourage consumers to settle their water debts or propose reasonable payment plans have been repeatedly made with little success and the Authority is now forced to take stringent measures to keep the debts manageable.

As mentioned earlier, ZINWA will not hesitate to wield the axe on reckless and ungrateful consumers whose regressive behaviour of not paying their water bills has continued even after the debt cancellation.

The Authority will not allow bills to balloon to unprecedented levels of 2013 and to achieve that, it is putting in place a reliable follow up operation which involves continuous disconnection exercises on consumers who do not want to pay their monthly bills as well as engaging debt collectors to pursue the debts.

Ordinarily, this would not have been necessary had consumers showed enough commitment towards the sustenance of effective and efficient service delivery.

Therefore, until water payments are considered a top priority by all consumers, it would be folly for anyone to expect ZINWA to perform its functions diligently.

If indeed water is life, then it has to be reflected in the way water bills are honoured.

• For more information please contact the corporate Communications and Marketing Department on [email protected], mail to: [email protected] or visit www.zinwa.co.zw, http://www.zinwa.co.zw. You can also like our page on Facebook page.