Harare City Mayor Herbert Gomba has denied that the local authority has been given $42 million by the government.
Writing on microblogging site Twitter on Sunday, Gomba said the money has not yet been transferred into the municipal account. He said:
We have not received the said money yet from the central government, will inform the public when the money has been transferred into both the municipal and Chemplex account, for now, we are using internal resources for our municipal work, be blessed.
A report in the Sunday Mail claimed that HCC has received an additional $42 million from the government to enable it to procure water chemicals. The report reads as follows:
Government has channelled an additional $42 million to the Harare City Council (HCC) to enable it to procure water treatment chemicals as part of interim measures to deal with the capital’s water woes.
The funds, which are an addition to the $37,4 million released by Treasury for water infrastructure projects last week, were hived off the kitty reserved for devolution projects in Harare.
Of the allocation, $32 million will be used to settle the debt owed to Chemplex Corporation, the city’s major supplier of water treatment chemicals, while the remainder will be used to replace old pipes.