BY BRENDA NCUBE
Hwange Local Board (HLB) has moved in to supply Empumalanga phase 4 residents with water from a bowser after the location had its pipes disconnected three weeks ago by Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) due to arrears.
HLB in a statement accused ZINWA of disconnecting the surburb’s water meters, owing to a discrepancy on the authority’s billing system, which is said to be on estimates..
Preliminary observations in a statement indicate that the ZINWA bills have been increasing from month to month, contrary to council figures.
“While ZINWA’s bill is ZWL 28 million, Council’s bill to the residents is ZWL 9.4 million, which is calculated from resident’s water meters,”HLB statement read.
“From Council’s billing of ZWL 9.4 million, Council has paid ZINWA ZWL 6.1 million, against receipts of ZWL 3.7 million from Empumalanga Phase 4 residents. In essence residents are owing Council ZWL 2.4 million.”
HLB said investigations are underway to establish the descrepancy.
“Council is making every effort to establish the source of discrepancy between the ZINWA bill and water calculated to have been consumed by Empumalanga Phase 4 residents. That discrepancy is ZWL 18.6 million
“Council therefore needs to establish whether the discrepancy in the bills reflects under billing by Council or overbilling by ZINWA or still the use of different unit cost of water by ZINWA and Council in their billing.”
The local board said it will ensure that bulk meter water readings by ZINWA are collaborated by Council’s own reading of the same to establish the unit cost of water supplied by ZINWA to Council.
Meanwhile, the local board is making efforts to reconcile customer accounts to determine those owing, with a view to supply water only to those that are paid up.