Harare/Johannesburg - Police in Zimbabwe's eastern city of
Mutare have arrested two water meter readers for allegedly inflating
meter readings to discredit the government ahead of next month's
polls, reports said Wednesday.
The state-run ZINWA water authority was forced to issue a public
apology on national radio last week after residents of Harare, Mutare
and smaller towns received huge water bills for January.
ZINWA blamed meter readers, saying they were trying to discredit
the authority of President Robert Mugabe's government ahead of
national elections on March 29.
The authority promised 'disciplinary action' would be taken
against meter readers and encouraged members of the public to report
them.
Monthly water bills shot up from around 40 or 50 million Zimbabwe
dollars (at the official rate) to more than 300 million dollars,
residents reported. One woman reported a bill of 1.5 billion dollars,
equivalent to five months of an average teacher's salary.
The bills were an act of 'sabotage,' the state-run Herald reported
on Wednesday.
But the case has been mired in controversy after some bills showed
that meter readings had actually gone down. There were suspicions
that water charges per kilolitre of usage had been hiked.
Contacted by telephone Wednesday, a ZINWA official said that water
charges for 40 kilolitres and above currently stood at 7.4 million
Zimbabwe dollars per kilolitre. Yet water bills for December show
that the price per kilolitre was much less than that at around
500,000 Zimbabwe dollars.
Weary Zimbabweans are used to rapidly-rising prices: successive
visits to a grocery store morning and evening Tuesday revealed prices
had quadrupled during the day.
Inflation reached a record 100,580.2 per cent in January and there
are shortages of fuel, some foods and essential drugs. Mugabe, 84,
blames sanctions for Zimbabwe's economic mess. But analysts warn the
crisis could prove the longtime president's nemesis in the polls.
For the first time ever, Mugabe faces two strong challengers: the
main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and former finance minister Simba Makoni.
The Herald said there were no reports of arrests of meter readers
in the capital Harare 'so far.' It said the two meter readers in
Mutare were arrested last week and had been suspended pending
dismissal. The water authority has vowed 'stiffer action' against
anyone found inflating water meter readings.
'The inaccuracies by some of our meter readers are believed to be
a serious act of sabotage aimed at tarnishing the image of the
authority and indeed that of government,' ZINWA said in a statement.
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