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Lovemore Zigara, Midlands Correspondent
ONE of the country’s leading abattoirs, Bellevue Abattoir, has expressed interest in setting up an abattoir in Redcliff with the intention of servicing a broader market in the province.

Bellevue Abattoir Butchery has about 15 branches located in Harare, Norton and Bulawayo. The company has already bought 10 hectares of land from Redcliff Municipality as it seeks to expand its operations.

Mr Shingi Zinyemba, the company’s chief executive officer, confirmed that they are looking to invest in the satellite town but declined to divulge figures.

“It is an area that we are looking at but at the moment it is still premature to give you the figures and the timeframes. We will inform the public of anything through our official channels,” he said.

However, Redcliff Mayor, Councillor Freddy Kapuya, said the local authority had sold the company 10 hectares of land and gave Bellevue rate rebates for the next five years.

“We sold them land just before the Christmas holidays and they have submitted their plans for approvals to the council to set up a state of the art abattoir. They have already purchased 10 hectares of land, which is massive and as council we have given them a rebate of five years on rates,” said Cllr Kapuya.

He said by giving rebates and other offers, the municipality was trying to attract investment to the town, which in the past was supported by Ziscosteel.

Since the collapse of Ziscosteel, Redcliff has been reduced to a ghost town with little economic activity taking place in the satellite town. Chinese company Livetouch Investments, which is into cement production, is one of the few companies that have invested in the town. The plant has a design capacity of producing 400 thousand tonnes of cement per year.

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