GWERU City Council has set aside funds to buy vehicles and road equipment to enhance service delivery with a Nissan Navara, single cab worth US$30 000 already acquired.
The council which has seen a surge in revenue collection in the past two months, is expecting more service delivery equipment and tractors early next year. Speaking during the commissioning ceremony, the acting town clerk, Mr Vakai Douglas Chikwekwe said the local authority is committed to improving service delivery.
“We are here to commission the Nissan Navara single cab which we bought for US$30 000. This is an indication of our determination towards service delivery,” he said.
Mr Chikwekwe said the money used to purchase the vehicle came directly from council coffers.
“We used council money to buy the vehicle, and we are making sure that when we get money from residents and ratepayers, we buy what is urgently required to speed up service delivery,” he said.
“We are resourcing all the departments that should be resourced.”
Mr Chikwekwe said council is also expecting the delivery of a new tipper truck and has plans to purchase new graders, as well as tractors.
“We have another tipper coming in eight to 10 weeks’ time, so we have three tippers that will service the city at the beginning of the year. We have plans to purchase other equipment such as graders so that we can service our roads and not rely on other people for road rehabilitation,” he said.
“We also want to buy six tractors for the engineering department and we will need four more for the health services department.”
Mr Chikwekwe said council also purchased a new transformer that will be installed at Gwenhoro dam to provide power for water pumping.
“We have a transformer that is going to be installed at Gwenhoro to provide power to our pump station. We have seen an increase in revenue collection in the last two months and we will use some of the revenue to purchase vehicles or equipment that can assist us in improving service delivery,” said Mr Chikwekwe.
The council’s water pumping system coupled with power supply disruptions have resulted in council failing to pump enough water to meet consumption of the city’s growing population.
Mr Chikwekwe urged residents and ratepayers to continue paying their bills in order to capacitate the local authority so that it is able to provide services.
“We continue to value the support of our various stakeholders and the Central Government in this service delivery journey,” he said.
City of Gweru revenue collection increased from 40 to 96 percent which is US$28, 6 million.
Between August and September, the local authority collected US$28, 6 million, and is expecting to collect US$35 million by the end of the year.
Council debtors now owe council $4,2 billion while council owes creditors $1,2 billion of which $1,98 million is for Zesa.
Gweru City Council has submitted a US$37 million 2023 budget to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works for approval.
Last month, the council proposed a static US$46 million budget for next year following the completion of consultative meetings in all the city’s 18 wards. – The Chronicle
