Suburban
GWERU City Council has started a pilot project of installing pre-paid water meters in residential areas in a bid to improve revenue collection, control consumption and ensure accurate billing for consumers.
The local authority will start with 100 water meters to be installed in Ivene, Southview andSouthdowns suburbs.
In a public notice, Gweru City Council said: “We would like to inform our valued residents, clients and stakeholders that we are conducting a test run in Ivene, Southview and Southdowns. We will install 100 pre-paid water meters in those areas.
“Once we are done with the assessment, we hope to install pre-paid water meters,” read the statement dated 29 November 2022.Gweru City Council spokesperson Vimbai Chingwaramusee said the local authority was excited with the pre-paid water meter project as residents and ratepayers will now be paying for the water they use on a monthly basis.
She said residents have been complaining about being overcharged for the water they hardly get ontheir taps and if the project is successful it will benefit all residents.
“These water meters are just for the pilot test from the supplier so they are not for sale. Anyone who will be among the selected 100 is not going to be paying for the meter because it is for the test.
“This will help the residents as they have been complaining that they were being overcharged as they will see what they have been using. It is going to be clear and we won’t have that sour relationship with the residents who have been complaining about their bills that are always high(when in fact), they said that they were not getting the water,” she said.
Chingwaramusee said the decision to embark on the pre-paid water meters came as a result of input from residents and stakeholders during budget consultation meetings.
The council spokesperson said if the test run is successful, they will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the supplier and then install the meters in the entire city.
She said the test run will run for two months in Ivene, Southview and Southdowns as they do not have challenges with water so that council can do a correct evaluation.
Gweru United Progressive Residents and Ratepayers Development Association Executive Director
Pastor David Chikore hoped that the pre-paid water project will bring convenience to the residents and ratepayers.
“We sincerely hope that the initiative performs to satisfaction so that residents find a ray of hope in a sea of despair.
“We however, fully appreciate the predicament we find ourselves in as residents in this city, who have for long suffered under the burden of unrealistically inflated estimated water bills, for a commodity that rarely flows out of our taps,” he said. — New Ziana
