The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga Senior Business Reporter
A BULAWAYO-BASED trust, Bounce Back, has joined a number of companies keen to resuscitate and rehabilitate Centenary and Central parks, regarded as among the city’s best tourist and leisure spots.In an interview with Sunday Business, Trust member, Mr Craig Broomberg, said infrastructure at the parks has deteriorated to a state where everything needs to be redone and cited lack of security and water as major problems.
Mr Broomberg said he met Bulawayo City Council officials to discuss the Trust’s intentions to rehabilitate the park as it used to be a popular tourist attraction in the city.
“There have been a number of attempts by different people to resuscitate the parks but for various reasons, the projects were never completed, but it is different for us because we believe it is a matter of perseverance and getting the whole community involved,” he said.
Speaking on what Bounce Back has done so far, Mr Broomberg said they have submitted a proposal to the local authority on their intentions and were waiting for a “written mandate” that will allow them to start work.
He said they have engaged several companies including Sanctfyd and Roundtable, and they were running a consortium with Lions Club and the Rotary as well as other people with interests in seeing the park brought back to its former glory.
The resuscitation process will involve work on ablution facilities, playgrounds, installation of electricity, water supplies as well as improving security.
“We want to get the facility up and running so that families can benefit and be able to bring their children to the park where they can spend a day outdoors without spending a lot of money. Our vision is to see the number of places that tourists can visit in the city increasing,” said Mr Broomberg.
Bounce Back’s motto, which is Vuselela Bulawayo, is a clear indication of the direction that the Trust wants to take, said Mr Broomberg.
He said the proposal they sent to council stated that they would like to join forces with the local authority in the day to day running of the facilities as the local authority has been facing challenges in maintaining the recreational services.
Responding to questions on how the Trust would fund this major project, Mr Broomberg said their intention was to raise funds through engaging the community and schools with progress having been made with the Private Schools Association of Matabeleland.
“Once we get the written mandate from council, most things will fall into place as we have already engaged the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe in resuscitating the traffic training centres at the park and to create additional material and get schools involved in promoting road safety education,” he said.
On the amount needed to complete the project and timeline, Mr Broomberg said it was difficult to say how much was needed to get the fountain fully functioning as five additional pumps are required with only one working at the moment, and this could cost approximately $30 000 while for the train, the track needs to be completely relined and new engines are required which could cost $40 000.
For the ablution and water reticulation systems, $50 000 is needed while the playground, park benches, roads, security, wages and electrical lighting also need an undisclosed figure.
“This is a constant ongoing project and it will be difficult to put a timeline on it but we are hoping that by the end of next year, most of the stuff will be rehabilitated,” said Mr Broomberg.
In a separate interview, Mr Clement Mukwasi, who is also part of the Trust said the initiative could only succeed if everyone in Bulawayo participated.
He said community participation was vital and people should find value in partnering them in pursuit of the beautification of the city.
“In the early 80s tourists used to flow into Bulawayo especially during Christmas time to enjoy the tranquility of this facility. Previous efforts may not have seen daylight but we have a strategic plan in place towards achieving this goal,” said Mr Mukwasi.
He said the park does not only benefit those who visit the place but also those who offer services like photographers and vendors.
The rehabilitation of the Centenary and Central parks by Bounce Back is set to extend to other parks in the city as well as non-functioning ponds in Thorngrove.
