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City of Harare conducts budget consultations |
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Thursday, 02 December 2010 |
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The City of Harare is conducting consultation meetings with residents and other stakeholders as part of the formulation process for the 2011 city budget. Meetings have since been conducted in areas like Mbare, Mufakose, Budiriro, Hatfield, Hatcliffe, Borrowdale, Glen Norah, Kuwadzana and Dzivarasekwa (please refer to the attachment on schedule of other meetings).
The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) urges residents to attend the meetings and make contributions in line with their views and expectations in the 2011 city budget. The meetings are meant to take on board resident’ views relating to:
• Utility rates e.g. water, refuse collection, sewer reticulation
• Fines that should be charged for violating City by-laws
• The general pricing of properties e.g. residential stands, rentals, in the city
• Motor vehicle licensing
• Parking charges
• Health and burial charges
• The City’s administrative expenditures e.g. salaries and allowances, purchases
CHRA reiterates the importance of residents’ participation in these meetings as the outcome will have a bearing on future of service delivery in Harare. CHRA makes the following demands in the 2011 city budget;
• Firstly, the formulation process should be characterized by meaningful consultations reaching out to almost all stakeholders.
• The budget should prioritize service delivery i.e. it should allocate 70% of revenue collected to service delivery while 30% goes to administration and salaries.
• The budget priorities should be reflective of the issues raised by residents and the broader stakeholders
• It has to provide for affordable services at reasonable rates
In the Spirit of Section 184 of the Urban Councils’ Act (29:15), if the final budget is not reflective of the initial public input; residents have the right to reject the budget through launching objections to the City Council stating their reasons for doing so.
CHRA remains committed to advocating for good, transparent and accountable local governance as well as lobbying for quality municipal services on a non partisan basis. |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 December 2010 )
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