BCC abandons impounded cremator 

Source: BCC abandons impounded cremator – The Southern Eye

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has abandoned its imported cremator valued at US$100 000 which was impounded by South African authorities in 2017 over duty arrears.

Town clerk Christopher Dube told Southern Eye that council is now in the process of trying to recover the money paid to the contractor, to purchase a new cremator.

“Please be advised that there is a council resolution passed on October 5, 2022 which indicated that the City of Bulawayo abandons the cremator to avoid paying further charges but instead pursue recovery of the money that was paid to the contractor.

“The reasons for abandoning it were because of lapse of time as it was now cheaper to buy a new one than pursue the old one. The cremator stuck in South Africa had accumulated storage charges of over R1m as well as transportation costs from Durban to Zimbabwe,’’ Dube said.

The cremator was imported from Japan and held in South Africa after the contractor Masen Engineering (Pvt) Ltd failed to pay R120 000 to the South African Revenue Services (SARS) for its release.

The contractor advised that it was not a wise decision to pay that amount to SARS in order to facilitate the release of the cremator, which is now obsolete.