The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Municipal Reporter
THE much anticipated upgrading of the Basch Terminus in Bulawayo commonly known as Egodini is hanging in the balance after a Government investigating team recommended that the deal be cancelled after a number of irregularities and corrupt dealings were exposed.
The upgrading, which was initially meant to start in January 2014, has experienced a number of false starts, with both the local authority and the contracted company reportedly not committing themselves to the project. South African civil engineering firm Tearraccotta Private Limited won the tender ahead of two local companies to upgrade the terminus, at an estimated cost of $60 million.
It has since emerged that the whole deal was mired in a number of irregularities which include the fact that the local authority did not bother getting an environment impact assessment or feasibility study before appending the signature. Further, there were two varying lease agreements with the South Africa based company, with contrasting provisions on the lease period, jurisdiction and start and end of the project.
The Bulawayo City Council has allegedly been careless in handling the contract such that the Government has given them two options of either suspending signing of the contract and renegotiate based on the feasibility study or to retender the project with a comprehensive brief of the requirements based on the feasibility study. The local authority has further been ordered to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and feasibility study before the project commences.
According to the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Report on corruption which was exposed at the Bulawayo City Council, Terracotta, despite being awarded the contract in July 2012, disappeared and only to resurface after the election of new councillors but this time renegotiating terms of the original deal.
“Initial contract construction period was a fixed 18 months but this was changed to include the possibility of further negotiated extended contract period of 30 months. The period of operation for Terracotta is stated as 40 years with an option of another 20 years extension. However, other documents pertaining to the contract state the lease period as 55 and a possible 99-year lease.
“Initially, the developer was supposed to pay compensation for demolition and removal of any occupancy in terms of his project proposal. This was, however, changed with the responsibility being heaped squarely on council. In the initial agreement, it was agreed that Terracotta would develop the surrounding roads but it was changed that council will take over,” reads part of the report.
According to the report, these unscrupulous changes were confirmed by; “the Acting Town Clerk (Mrs Sikhangele Zhou), engineer (Simela Dube) and the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Gift Banda).
The team further reported that there were no preliminary designs forwarded by the developer to date in violation of the agreement by both parties noting that the contract was tendered in 2012 and council recommended allocation for award in February 2013 and the purported contract signed in October 2015 reflecting a time lapse of three years.
“There was no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and feasibility study carried out to show how both parties were to benefit financially from the investment. Such feasibility study would have also established the lease period and reflect the rate of return which would justify the lease period.
“The fact that Terracotta revised its initial contract resulting in sweeping changes being made to the agreement indicates that Terracotta was not in essence committed to its initial proposal and only wanted to be awarded the contract before renegotiating for another contract which makes it an unfair advantage to others who participated,” reads the report.
According to the investigation report, the majority of the changes demanded by Terracotta created a financial responsibility on council with no corresponding reduction on the project cost.
It further noted that given the fact that no feasibility study was done, council assumed the lease period was not supported by any economic calculation.
The investigation which has resulted in the suspension of five councillors including the Deputy Mayor, Clr Banda, has been largely commended by Bulawayo residents, who have said this has gone a long way bringing sanity within the local authority.
