Councils chase N$162m as service cut-off looms

Some local authorities are owed more than N$162 million by government ministries, institutions and businesses as the deadline for settling outstanding municipal accounts expires today. The debt burden has placed severe financial pressure on councils, prompting the government to direct municipalities to disconnect water and electricity services to defaulting state entities and large businesses. This comes after the urban and rural development minister James Sankwasa last month directed all local authorities to cut off services of ministries with outstanding debts that fail to settle their accounts on or before today.