Beitbridge introduces ward retention fund

BEITBRIDGE Municipality has introduced a Ward Retention Fund (WRF) meant to raise money to develop specific areas as the border town seeks to drive community development projects.

The local authority’s finance committee chairperson, Councillor Granger Nyoni, confirmed the development and said a foundation to roll out the initiative has been laid.

He said the fund was first mooted in May and a team was sent to Bulawayo to familiarise itself with how the second capital was implementing a similar project.

“The fund will be five percent of money collected by the municipality from all consumer accounts in the wards and will be channelled back to the wards in order to finance projects of their choice as contained in the budget.

“The development in the wards will motivate ratepayers to pay their bills in anticipation of improved peoplecentred service delivery.

“In essence, these projects must improve infrastructure and service delivery in the wards.

“The ward retention fund shall not include water levy, VAT monies, Government and parastatal set-offs, grants, loans or other forms of support being given to the municipality.

“The money will be collected from temporary service permits, rates and licences and shall be disbursed once quarterly.”

Clr Nyoni said council was looking at increasing community participation in the town’s development matters from grassroots level.

The councillor said the fund will have a separate bank account where the local authority will deposit an amount equivalent to five percent of the amount collected from wards.

“The payments should be supported by properly authorised and signed requisitions, quotations, delivery notes, invoices, payment vouchers as per municipality’s regulations,” he said.

Some of the projects, he added, would include public lighting, upgrading of water and sewer reticulation facilities, roads and speed humps construction, culverts construction, paving of business centres, modernisation of market stalls and other social amenities.

He said the programmes will differ from ward to ward and that the implementation of certain projects would depend on the size of the fund’s budget.

“For instance, in my ward (Ward 5), we intended to convert the cocktail bar at Mashakada Business Centre into a public library and a place for night school and ECD classes,” said Clr Nyoni.