Zimpapers Logo

Michael-Chideme

Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter—
MORE than 400 Harare City tenants have been using the local authority’s commercial properties for free since 2009 when the country adopted a multi-currency regime, as it emerged last week that the leases had not been changed to the new transacting regime. Millions of dollars in revenue are believed to have been lost as a result.

Although reasons for not amending the leases to United States dollars could not be immediately ascertained, it is widely believed that most of these properties were being leased by city officials or their proxies hence the reluctance to enforce payments.

Harare City has more than 10 000 commercial and residential properties and recently it issued out lease agreement cancellation notices to defaulting tenants collectively owing $4,5 million.

ALSO SEE

• Water cuts for defaulters

• Harare acquires 500 buses

• 15 land barons arrested

• Harare Water privatised

• Mahachi demands exit package

• Storm over town clerk’s $70 000 car demand

This excluded leases entered during the Zimbabwe dollar era.

Six years after the introduction of the multi-currency system, Harare City now wants to cancel leases entered into during the Zimbabwe dollar period after realising that it was being prejudiced.

Harare is struggling to pay its workers on time and is failing to provide residents with basic services such as water, sewer reticulation, refuse collection while thousands enjoy city commercial and residential properties for free.

Principal communications officer Mr Michael Chideme, said the city was putting its house to recoup some money from its investments.

“We are now correcting an anomaly that we have been living with since dollarisation. We realise that if we convert leases to US dollars, we will be able to realise a lot of money from the leases.

“All people still using leases denominated in Zimbabwe dollars should visit council offices at Rowan Martin and have them corrected,” he said.

Mr Chideme warned church organisations that the city would not issue new leases to those whose branches owed it leasing fees unless the balances were settled.

“Harare City Council advises all business operators that all trading operations should be accompanied by the appropriate operating licence acquired from council.

“The original copies of the operating licences should be displayed in a visible place within the business premises for inspectors to see. All businesses that have not renewed their 2015 licences should urgently do so now to avoid being closed down for operating illegally,” he said.

He said all new businesses that applied for operating licences for the period January to July 2015 were now free to pay for their annual fees at Rowan Martin licensing section and discouraged the use of middlemen and consultants.

“The process is very transparent and not time consuming. The City has heeded calls by business to remove informal traders from shop fronts. The presence of vendors on shop fronts is no longer a valid excuse for not paying one’s trading licence fees.

“If not sure of the identity of any inspectors demanding to check your trading licences, contact the director of Health Services,” he said.

Mr Chideme added that cooked food vendors at trade shows and festivals such as Harare International Festival of the Arts, Harare Agricultural Show among others, should be registered with the City Health Services Department.