Bukalo village council struggles to recoup N$157 million debt

BUKALO Village Council chief executive Anna Sazita says they are struggling to operate because of the N$157 million owed to them by residents.

Sazita on Monday said they collected less than N$4 million in the last nine years. The money is owed by residents who benefited from council plots.

“The people are building, but are not paying us anything for the land, so we are unable to operate sustainably as a result. However, we are going to engage these defaulters to start paying us for the land in the next four months or risk the land being repossessed. I am aspiring to bring the village council to a point where we become completely independent of the subsidy we get from the government,” she said.

Sazita said they are investigating cases where residents are paying officials through the back door to have their water reconnected.

“When we speak of rates and taxes, we are supposed to collect close to N$70 000 per month. However, we only collect N$4 000 each month. Households whose water are supposed to be closed are open, and we are losing revenue needed to pay our service providers,” she said.