Zimpapers Logo

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

HWANGE Local Board (HLB) has said its door-to-door campaign to recover ZW$100 million in unpaid rates did not yield much, hence it is now considering taking legal action against defaulters.

Residents in Empumalanga Phase I and DRC sections as well as Baobab’s T area are the worst defaulters in terms of number of people who owe council, according to the HLB management.

A door-to-door debt collection exercise implemented by the local authority early this year proved ineffective as some residents and businesses have gone for three months without paying anything.

Councillors have also been sensitizing their constituents to encourage people to pay bills as the non-payment of rates is hampering efficient service delivery and completion of some capital projects road rehabilitation.

“We are considering taking legal action against rate payers who are in arrears that go for more than three months. From our computation we are owed more than ZWL$100 million in non-paid rates and we have been issuing final letters of demand to defaulters that have gone beyond three months without paying,” said HLB Town Secretary Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose.

Some residents and businesses reportedly stopped paying bills following the outbreak of Covid-19.

Some businesses have also closed or scaled down operations while some employees lost their jobs because of effects of the pandemic.

Mr Mdlalose said litigation is the last resort after having exhausted other means.

“We have exhausted all other means to try recover dues and we were left with no option but to take the legal route. At the beginning of the year the local authority embarked on various strategies aimed at recovering its dues, chief among them the door-to-door debt collection exercise but not much has been realised from these efforts.

“If we had that ZWL$100 million we would have done a number of projects and met most of our obligations,” said Mr Mdlalose.

The local authority has also urged upon land beneficiaries within its jurisdiction to pay rates and other charges to avoid having their stands repossessed.

Some land owners have been complaining to HLB that they were being billed yet their areas have not been serviced.

According to the Urban Councils Act, Section 218, all land owners are liable to be charged by a local authority.

Beneficiaries with lease agreements are liable to a lease fee whether the stand is serviced or not while those with title deeds pay rates only and service charges such as lights, refuse collection, road and sewer maintenance.

According to council regulations, if an owner fails to develop a stand for two years, the local authority can repossess it without paying any compensation. – @ncubeleon