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Heather Charema Mash West Correspondent
Kadoma City Council is owed $33 million by ratepayers and has resolved to engage debt collectors to recover the money. An offer of a 40 percent discount in the past 14 months has not yielded the desired results, as some residents have failed to clear their arrears. In an interview yesterday, financial services assistant director (revenue collection) Mr Edgar Mhaka, said council was now resorting to the use of debt collectors to recover the money.

“Apart from offering discounts as council, we have also embarked on other measures that include engaging debt collectors,” he said. Mr Mhaka said council was also offering special discounts to those who paid up.

“We are also engaging residents and explaining the reasons why they have to pay their rates, as well as offering a 30 percent discount on those whose accounts are up to date,” he said.

“A sizeable number of residents, corporate and institutions are taking advantage of the discount to clear their arrears and this has led to an improvement in service delivery of late.” Mr Mhaka implored those who still owed council to come forward with their payment plans to avoid being sued. He warned those ignoring the incentives and council offers that there would be no debt write-offs by council ahead of the 2018 harmonised elections.

Kadoma public relations officer Mr Francis Kachere said the city, which had its centenary celebrations this year, was recording significant improvement in service delivery despite the tough economic situation.

“We have rehabilitated most of the major roads in the central business district and the high density suburb of Rimuka and have managed to come up with one of the best housing projects for low income earners and proper waste management,” he said.