The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Municipal Reporter
BULAWAYO councillors will this week decide on the fate of the Egodini rehabilitation project in the city as they resume sittings after the country downgraded its Covid-19 national lockdown to Level Two.
The local authority had cancelled all council committee meetings owing to the national lockdown, with a special Covid-19 taskforce convened to handle any major matters during the lockdown.
With the downgrading of the lockdown, councillors will resume their committee meetings, with a special council meeting set for Wednesday whose main agenda is to review the contract awarded to South African-based contractor, Terracotta Private Limited, to see whether the company has stuck to its contractual obligations.
In February the local authority had reported that it was considering terminating the contract with revelations that the contractor had missed the deadline for the completion of the first phase of the project with no indication what the new timelines were.
Bulawayo Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni said councillors had previously tasked the town lands and planning council committee to look into the contract originally offered to Terracotta and also assess the reasons offered by the contractor for the delay in the completion of the project.
“In essence, the town lands and planning committee will be presenting their report, which councillors will then review and decide a way forward. As you might know councillors and the general public raised a red flag regarding the pace this whole project is taking. So, at this special council meeting councillors will hear the report from the committee, management will also make their input on the matter and a decision that benefits the city will be agreed upon,” said Clr Mguni.
Terracotta initially missed the November 2019 deadline to have completed the first phase of the project with no indications that the company would meet its then requested deadline of end of March 2020. According to a report tabled before council’s town lands and planning committee in March, the South Africa-based company revealed that in January this year it had started the recruitment of bricklayers, who were meant to help start construction so as to complete Phase 1A of the project.
Phase 1A of the project, according to the contractor, includes the construction of 1 100 informal traders’ stalls, a 100-bay taxi rank, security wall, security tower, motor retail, taxi associations offices, public ablutions and a service lane. Phase 1B includes the construction of the bus terminus building, fast food shops and the grocery anchor.
