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Patrick Chitumba Senior Reporter
THE cash-strapped Bulawayo City Council is offering discounts of up to 50 percent for all clients with arrears up to December last year in a bid to entice them to settle their bills. The amnesty does not apply to debts incurred this year.

Council’s senior public relations officer, Nesisa Mpofu, said debtors who achieve a zero balance by the end of this year would have what they owed in December last year slashed by half.

With the amount owed to council ballooning to $94 million, the local authority has also started water disconnections and litigation to force residents to pay.

“The City of Bulawayo is offering discounts of up to 50percent for all clients who have arrears up to December 2013,” said Mpofu.

She said residents owe council $50 million while Industry and Commerce owe $39 millon and public entities like primary schools owe them $5 million.

Mpofu said council owed utilities like Zesa, TelOne and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) $88 million.

She said on top of discounts, council was offering payment arrangement plans on friendly terms.

“Council has also resuscitated water disconnections and has handed over debtors owing huge amounts to legal practitioners. These measures have been effective to some extent,” said Mpofu.

She said council would continue encouraging and engaging residents to pay their outstanding bills so that it improves service delivery.

Meanwhile, another ailing local authority, Victoria Falls Municipality, is suing residents to recover over $8 million.

The municipality is said to have engaged Dube and Company Legal Practitioners to institute legal proceedings on its behalf.

Council officials said by last week, they had secured default judgments against more than 40 residents who had ignored the court summons.

The residents are likely to lose their property through a public auction.

Town Clerk Christopher Dube yesterday declined to comment saying that he was on leave. “I will be back at work on January 15 next year,” he said.