The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo Senior Business Reporter
TWO local companies have shown concrete intentions to undertake major infrastructural development at the Hwange Local Board’s proposed $50 million civic centre within the next two years. Hwange Local Board’s chief executive Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose said the local authority was close to agreeing with one of the country’s leading land developers, Hawkflight Construction and global humanitarian ministry, Celebration Ministries International for the construction of upmarket infrastructure at the allotted 12,5 hectare piece of land.
The civic centre is one of the local authority’s initiatives for attaining township status.
Hwange has been without a focal point due to apportioning of its land by big companies namely Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL), Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority’s subsidiary Zimbabwe Power Company and the National Railways of Zimbabwe.
“The civic centre project is work in progress as we continue to receive interest from a number of investors but so far we are confident that Celebration Ministries International will put up something there before the end of this year.
“We also had constructive negotiations with Hawkflight Construction and the company has indicated to us that it intends to put up a mall at the site while as a local authority we are also contemplating taking a leading role to ensure speedy infrastructural development at our proposed Central Business District,” Mr Mdlalose said.
He said the local authority would continue to court prospective investors to come and invest at the new CBD even through Public and Private Partnerships or Build Operate and Transfer arrangements.
“We are still calling on investors to come and invest at our CBD because it’s Hwange’s epicentre and investment opportunities are awash since this is a mining and tourism area. We are in the middle of the National Park and mines as well as a number of companies.
“The way we have modelled Hwange is such that it’s a tourism town with mining activities around it. We are quite aware that mines will shut down at some stage but tourism will be there for some time,” Mr Mdlalose said.
Hawkflight Construction managing director Mr Mngane Ncube said the company would come up with an infrastructure plan soon.
“As a company we are quite aware of the business opportunities that exist in Hwange and we are contemplating building a gigantic mall similar to the ones in Botswana and the one at Beitbridge.
“The mall will have a series of connected buildings containing a variety of retail stores, office space, mini bank malls and typically also restaurants. We hope to start working on the design soon and hopefully before the end of this year we will be on the ground,” he said.
In another related development a Bulawayo based estate and land developer, Agregate Properties has started servicing 150 titled low and medium residential stands at the local authority’s new suburb Baobab Brooke. The stands have a net value of $1,5 million.
“Aggregate Properties is in the process of servicing our titled low and medium residential stands. Last year we parcelled out 1 500 residential stands and this year we are targeting to churn out 1 000.
“Our target is to have allocated 3 500 stands by 2018. We are looking at having the other high- density stands being serviced soon after we flighted a tender to that effect. Currently we are in the adjudication process and within the next two weeks we will have awarded the tender,” Mr Mdlalose said.
Aggregate Properties entered into a PPP arrangement with the local authority. The company has been involved in servicing virgin land in Bulawayo and Plumtree for more than a decade.
“Recently we completed servicing 300 medium- density stands in Bulawayo and the project was rather unique in the sense that we are probably the first contractor to take a project of such nature up to surfacing level, which is to put tarmac on the road network.
“We believe that the Bulawayo project was a measure which we have set for ourselves and it is our hope that funds permitting we can do the Hwange project up to the surfacing level. It’s work in progress where 50 percent of the work has been done,” said Aggregate chief executive officer Mr Temba Dube.
He said the company was looking forward to handing over the serviced stands before the end of March.
