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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent

KARIBA Municipality is owed $20 billion by residents and the council is working on engaging residents to clear their arrears so that proper service delivery can be rendered in the town.

Speaking at the unpacking of the blueprint on a Call to Action – No Compromise to Service Delivery: Kariba Municipality at a workshop in Harare yesterday Kariba Mayor Cllr Ralph Maoneyi said key areas in the blueprint sought to address the issue of revenue collection which has been a sticking problem for years.

“We are currently in a situation where we are owed about $20 billion by residents,” he said.

“We are supposed to be paying a debt to service providers of about $14 billion so if we get the money that we are owed we will be able to settle what we owe to whoever is providing services to us. So the issue of revenue collection is a very important issue. The issue of compliance with laws is another important thing brought forward by the blueprint.”

He said the blueprint was a good document that needed support from the central government and residents.

“It can deliver for us cities that are meaningful and particularly about Kariba, a town council that speaks to the needs of the residents in terms of the basic services,” he said.

Cllr Maoneyi said the municipality was doing well in terms of provision of water, roads and a number of other services.

Mr Richard Kamhoti, Kariba town clerk said the document provided visionary leadership and good guidance to local authorities to recover and provide better services to the communities they serve.

“I am particularly drawn to the key areas that need attention which include revenue collection, good governance and the relationship between municipalities and communities,” he said.

“I think these are key issues that need to be addressed by the municipality of Kariba in particular and local authorities in general. Without revenue collection, there can be very limited service delivery. Without the participation of the communities that we serve, again, we will achieve limited success and therefore these are very key issues that need the attention of the municipality.

“We are going to engage the community about the monies that are due to the municipality and we need to secure an agreement on how these monies can be paid and going forward, how municipal bills should be treated and where there are challenges perhaps per individual, family or ratepayer, the municipality is available to consider their plight.”