Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority is broke and has not paid its staff for over four months, while it is owed over US$100 million by local authorities and Government departments.The default in debt payments will worry residents of growth points and rural service centres who rely on Zinwa for water.
Local authorities pay for raw water from the dams and purify it for distribution. Government pays for the treated water consumed by its institutions and departments, while farmers pay for dam water use.
Government departments owed Zinwa more than US$$20 million as at February 2014, while local authorities owed US$21 million.
Irrigators owe the authority more than US$35 million in unpaid water bills.
Beitbridge Town Council owes more than US$7 million, followed by Gwanda Rural District Council (US$4 million), Victoria Falls (US$2 million) and Bulawayo City Council (US$1,2 million).
Among irrigators, Macdom, Chisumbanje and Ratings owe more than US$5 million.
Zinwa public relations manager Mrs Marjory Munyonga yesterday said the unpaid debts were adversely affecting operations.