More than
As delays built up with inflation prevalent at that time eroding the value of the money collected by the developers, some individuals formed a four-member parallel committee to spearhead the electrification project and the sections still to be connected.
Besides the medium voltage links to the houses, a high voltage line was needed into the area.
Residents formed a WhatsApp group dubbed "Mutual Block 4
Despite payment of the money sometime last year, residents are still to get electricity and still have no idea how much was collected and from whom.
All that they have seen is a table showing that most people paid between
People were made to believe that the money was meant to purchase materials, but ZETDC spokesperson Ms Prisca Utete said the money never reached them.
Instead, she said ZETDC supplied all the materials in terms of an agreement with the financiers of the project.
Ms Utete said investigations were underway to establish the circumstances under which the
"The CABS Budiriro electrification project that is a partnership between ZETDC,
"The project consists of nine phases or blocks as they were popularly known among the residents.
"In 2019, ZETDC was supposed to construct 11kV lines whilst
"Unfortunately, because of inflation, the prices of materials kept on escalating and it was difficult to procure them. In 2020, ZETDC procured some materials for the project and having noted the delays in the procurement and construction of the 11kV network, residents through
"ZETDC did not receive any funds from the consumers and therefore there was no material procured," she said.
Ms Utete added that ZETDC supplied the bulk of material.
"There are a lot of materials that ZETDC contributed towards the project from its stocks, with the bill of quantities also covering material that was not in stock.
"However,
The chairman of the ad hoc committee of residents, Mr Calvin Chinhengo, and other committee members apparently receipted the payments made but residents say there is no final accounting.
Contacted for comment, Mr Chinhengo could neither deny or accept the allegations levelled against him.
"I have contacted the other committee members on the issue, for the purpose of giving you a comment, but they advised me not to give a comment. So my response is, 'No comment'. Maybe you should go back to the source who told you about the issue, he will give you more facts."
A resident who spoke to The Herald on condition of anonymity said they were not told how much was collected and what was procured.
"At first we were asked to contribute
"We could not ask or participate in the group because it was set in a manner which allowed only the administrators to post. And the administrators are the ones in the committee.
"There was a time when we all could participate in the group, but as residents continued to ask about contributions, the group settings were changed and we could not contribute or ask anything except to be fed information."
Besides the issue of the money collected that never reached
Old Mutual Group Marketing Executive Ms Lillian Mbayiwa said the whole issue on electricity reticulation was between ZETDC and residents.
"Our responsibility on infrastructure was on roads, sewer and water with ZETDC covering power. After delays by the power authority a memorandum was signed where residents were to cover medium voltage works (the links from each house to the substation) with ZETDC doing high voltage (the 11kv line including poles and overhead cables). Cabs simply assisted residents by prefunding the medium voltage reticulation after a request by residents and beneficiaries who were to repay through mortgages.
"
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