El Torro skryf:
Mnr. Theo van Vuuren, waarnemende munisipale bestuurder, kan jy asseblief vir ons antwoorde verskaf op onderstaande skrywe wat in die 21 Augustus uitgawe verskyn het, soos wat u wel op mnr. Swart se skrywe in verlede week se uitgawe gedoen het, maar nie op u Facebook blad nie.
Meneer Die Waarnemende Munisipale Vestuurder, verduidelik asseblief aan ons hoekom word die Mei 2015 water en elektrisiteit verbruik wat ons nou so pas moes betaal het, aangeslaan teen die nuwe finansiële jaar se tariewe soos wat dit op jou Facebook blad geplaas is? Om vinnig ‘n ekstra klomp geld uit ons te wurg om Eskom te betaal, want dit wil voorkom of alle inkomste nou na Eskom toe gekanaliseer word, want word ons vullis dalk nie verwyder omdat daar nie geld is om die trokke te herstel nie maar daarvoor moet ons betaal, elke maand !
Riool wat nou al ‘n verdere twee weke lank op die hoek van Bethal- en Mandela uitloop/oorloop nadat dit herstel is op 28 Julie, ‘potholes’ in meeste van ons strate wat na jare nog nie herstel is nie maar belasting moet deur die inwoners betaal word, R 1 000 000 000 plus se agterstallige gelde wat langer as ‘n jaar uitstaande is en wat nog nie ingevorder is nie en dan dat 42% betalers nog buite die net val, getuig net van een ding, of onbevoegde amptenare of mense wat nie hulle werk doen nie maar wel elke maand betaal moet word.
Hoeveel ingenieurs is in diens by u ? Hoeveel is u veronderstel om te hê? Miskien sal hulle jou dalk kan help om ordentlike dienste aan die inwoners te verskaf.
Theo van Vuuren comments:
I notice there is a reference to an article on August 21. I do not monitor the press and will not in all cases even know about letters and questions, unless these are directed to me following standard communication protocols. In respect of El Torro’s questions, most of these points have been widely discussed and as I see he is monitoring Facebook and the newspaper, he should have read those. Therefore let me just briefly expand on a few points:
New tariffs come into effect from July 1 each year. All accounts then billed after July will be at the new tariffs. This means that consumption which have taken place during May and June, and which are only payable during July or later will be at the new tariffs. This is applicable to every year and has been done like this for many years. Remember that we also pay at the higher tariffs applicable from Eskom for the same consumption.
We are not trying to get undue income from customers. We want customers to pay for what they owe. El Torro is correct though; the Eskom account is draining our cash as there is a huge difference between the Eskom bill and what customers are actually paying us. This does impact on the availability of cash for other needs and will only improve when our income stream improves.
With reference to the outstanding arrears and the 42% of people outside the income net, the assumption that nothing is done about it and that all officials are incompetent also call for some moderation. I have no doubt that mistakes were made and that officials contributed to the situation but I also have no doubt that those who are not paying or are outside the revenue net are the real beneficiaries and are very creative in avoiding payments. The number of illegal connections, people changing their accounts and addresses, having meters bypassed etc is astonishing. And when they are caught many have also the means to fight the matters and to delay payments. This is not a simple matter and even where we use debt collectors, this is a slow and costly process. But we are making progress and this situation will be arrested overtime.
In respect of technical expertise the municipality has key resources in place but not enough. The managers for electrical, water, sanitation, roads have all engineering qualifications. The same applies to the relevant directors. However, in respect of fully qualified engineers in the employ of the municipality we are extremely short and are busy recruiting four engineers. We only have one engineer full time and one on contract in our employ and outsource when we require specific skills. What is very evident in an environment like this is that it remains difficult to attract highly qualified and experienced engineers s these can earn more in the private sector or in the metros. The working conditions and hostile working environment likewise also do not assist in attracting that level of experts.
I trust that this will answer some of the concerns.
