The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Municipal Reporter
BULAWAYO residents have challenged the local authority to avail vital information relating to the recent awarding of 2 400 housing stands to private developers in the city.
The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) awarded tenders to three local contractors — Heavenview Properties, Veluntina Investments and Cabinlock Construction to develop stands in Emganwini a couple of weeks ago. This however, came at the backdrop of the local authority previously engaging in cat and mouse battles with private developers with close to 50 percent of its housing projects being put on hold owing to disagreement between the local authority and the developers leading to the matter being referred for arbitration.
In a letter to the city’s Town Clerk, Mr Christopher Dube, Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) co-ordinator, Mr Emmanuel Ndlovu said there was a need to avert a situation where contractors abandoned projects midstream. Mr Ndlovu said there was need for the profile of the three companies to be made public, inclusive of their past projects.
“It is the submission of BPRA that although most of the processes to do with selecting these contractors takes place inside council boardrooms, there is however, need for residents’ involvement and strengthened oversight mechanisms, checks and balances from bidding, contract designing, implementation to monitoring, especially when designing contracts worth millions of ratepayers’ monies with private agents.
“Answering the key questions on these contractors shall provide residents with important information on the plans that BCC has put into place to avert a scenario of contractors abandoning projects midstream such as that of Magwegwe Extension and Egodini Mall development,” said Mr Ndlovu.
The residents’ co-ordinator said the availed information will go a long way in assisting BPRA to perform its watchdog role and maximise on the benefits of private contracting and guarding against instances of agent opportunism and awarding of tenders to non-existent or briefcase companies that are owned by proxies.
According to the local authority private developers that had left major council projects incomplete had to date cost the local authority $7 228 136. Most of the affected projects have incomplete water, sewer and road works.
Projects that have been affected are Emganwini Phase Two, Tshabalala, Magwegwe West, Woodville, Emhlangeni Phase Two, Magwegwe Extension and Pumula South Two. Projects that have been completed are Emganwini Phase One, Magwegwe North, Luveve Five, Mahatshula, Emhlangeni Phase One and Pumula South Phase One.
Two years ago the local authority revealed that it was adopting a new housing development policy that will see land developers not selling stands to home seekers, as this would be the sole responsibility of the local authority. In the new policy, private developers no longer buy virgin land and sell undeveloped stands to residents but are expected to service the land with water, sewer and tarred roads first.
