Business Reporter
PROPERTY tycoon and WestProp Holdings Limited CEO, Ken Sharpe has criticised the City of Harare for charging exorbitant fees which do not match the quality of service delivery on offer.
His recent remarks adds fire to the existing conversation on the urgent need for local authorities and the government at large to improve the ease of doing business by scrapping unnecessary and repetitive licensing fees across the country’s economic sectors.
For instance, the National Biotechnology Authority charges those in the poultry sector an annual registration fee of $6 500 per annum despite the fact that they do not provide a service nor do they inspect the plant. They also require a quarterly registration of imported feed ingredients which include minerals that are not possibly genetically modified which carry a yearly cost of $36 400.
The Agricultural marketing Authority also issues almost similar licenses for Feed Mill Registration costing $ 1 000 and plant quarantine which costs $1 800 per annum despite the fact that they do not provide any service nor do they inspect the plant.
Riled by such a tough operating environment in the capital’s construction sector, Sharpe slammed the city fathers for demanding exorbitant fees at a time when they were offering nothing in return.
“These city fathers, they are disappointing us. They’re not giving us the services we need, they’re not giving us the service delivery that we expect and they’re charging us a lot of money. For example, in Pomona City, we have to put our own sewer.
“Can you imagine, build the whole sewer infrastructure, not just the sewer pipes, but the whole processing of sewer. We have to put our own biodigesters. We spend millions of dollars and the water storage, six million litres,” said.
The WestProp CEO said these are services the city should be providing, and yet they still want us to pay rates which is unfair.
“Then you come to the fees of the city of Harare. Imagine just to submit a plan for a building like this, hundreds of thousands of dollars. How can you pay $100,000 for submitting a plan? It’s unrealistic,” he added.
