Gokwe’s $530m budget approved

Gokwe Town Council’s budget of $530 million for this year has been approved, but the Government wants the council to settle all outstanding salaries for its workers and pay its statutory obligations so that service delivery is not affected.

The budget represents a six-fold increase in tariffs and rates and will see residents in high density suburbs paying around $1 000 a month, while those in low density suburbs will have to fork out around $2 200.

Business operators will have to pay the equivalent of an average fee of US$500 per year in licences for each set of premises.

In a letter to the town council, the Ministry of Local Government and Public works said while it had approved the budget, it directed the local authority to clear outstanding salaries, pay its statutory obligations and install an IT system that would allow data to be available in real time.

“Please note that some of these comments were raised in our minutes of March 2020 on your previous submission but no progress has been registered.” Some residents criticised the budget saying it was unaffordable given that the country was in a national lockdown and they were not generating a lot of income.-herald.cl.zw