Flawed BCC Billing Causing Residents Untold Suffering

Press Release

Date:              18 March 2013

Contact:         Emmanuel Ndlovu

                       Programmes and Advocacy Manager

                       Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)

FLAWED BCC BILLING SYSTEM CAUSING RESIDENTS UNTOLD SUFFERING

BULAWAYO Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) is concerned that the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) continues to use estimates to bill residents, something which has led to residents being overbilled, causing numerous problems for them. Speaking at service delivery meetings held by BPRA in the past month, residents of Bulawayo have complained that their bills were sky rocketing despite the fact that a three day water shedding programme is currently in effect in the city. Residents argued that the BCC meter readings as captured in their billing system were ahead of the readings that the residents’ meters actually show in their homes. This means that BCC has been billing residents for water they have not consumed. This has particularly raised the ire of residents since some have been charged with water penalties while others have even had their properties seized based on estimated water readings. Others have had their water supplies disconnected.

BPRA thus calls upon the BCC to immediately put measures in place to put its billing system in order, perhaps through investing in more meter readers and desisting from estimated readings. BPRA has it on good authority that the city fathers themselves are aware of the flaws in their billing system, hence it amounts to dereliction of duty that the situation is being allowed to continue unaddressed at the expense of the residents of Bulawayo. Officials from the local authority’s department of finance last year acknowledged that the billing system was prone to overcharging consumers and suggested that residents with misgivings about their bills should feel free to visit their offices at the tower block.

BPRA is however appalled that BCC has made no efforts to inform residents of this anomaly, continuing to behave like its business as usual with residents in arrears (based on the faulty billing system) being charged penalties, having their water supplies disconnected and having their properties seized by the messenger of court. BPRA would like to call upon BCC to stop water disconnections, charging of penalties, and seizing of properties from residents with arrears until problems with the billing system are addressed. BPRA also calls upon the local authority, through its public relations department, to ensure that residents are informed that the city’s billing system is problematic so that they can ensure that they are not billed for water they have not consumed.

Signed

.........................................................

Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu

Programmes and Advocacy Manager

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA)