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Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
Harare City Council is set to roll out 50 000 prepaid water meters in the capital as part of its 2018 plan, an official has said.

In an interview yesterday, council corporate communications manager Mr Michael Chideme said $12 million has since been allocated for the project, which is expected to be completed in the next two years.

“Our project of installing prepaid water meters is on this year and if all goes well, we want to churn out 50 000 meters in various parts of the city,” he said.

Mr Chideme added that the project is targeting areas that receive uninterrupted water supplies.

“We have quite a number of specific areas that we are targeting to install. These are areas that receive water supply consistently,” he said.

“We feel motivated to continue with the programme because it was a success last year. Although there were few challenges encountered by some of the beneficiaries, we will continue to improve along the way,” he said.

Residential areas that benefited from the first phase are Sunningdale and Marimba.

Prepaid meters are expected to serve as a revenue collection tool, as well as a debt recovery mechanism as they discourage wastefulness.

In January, City of Harare announced that it was owed more than $725 million by Government, business and residents.

As of December 31 last year, properties in high-density suburbs owed the city $171,6 million of which low-density suburbs had a $189,6 million debt.

Industrial or commercial properties were indebted to the tune of $322 million, while Government owed the city $29,4 million.