Hwange board courts investors for projects

Investment budget local government

Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
THE Hwange Local Board (HLB) has engaged a number of local and foreign investors to participate in major infrastructural development projects as it forges ahead to attain township status.

Chief executive officer, Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose, identified the proposed new Central Business District (CBD), a civic centre and installation of a solar power plant, as key projects.

“We have already sent advertisements for express of interest for the Civic Centre. We have also done the same for the solar power station. On Tuesday last week we invited companies interested in partnering with us for this CBD and civic centre as well as the solar power station to come and carryout a site visit,” said Mr Mdlalose.

“We attracted a lot of companies. We received a lot of interest especially for the solar power plant, as far as Dubai, South Africa and from most of the companies that work on solar projects. So a lot of interest has been shown. Right now we await formal presentation of expression of interest by these potential investors that have come and shown interest.”

The civic centre is estimated to cost $50 million and the land has been identified while the layout has been done and approved by both physical planning and the local authority.

“We have subsequently started subdividing that piece of land. We already have a concept (paper) of what we want to see,” said Mr Mdlalose who also invited pension funds to participate in the projects. He said Hwange was ideal for such investments given the growth of mining and tourism activities and envisaged gas exploration.

He said the apportioning of land by Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL), Zesa Holdings’ subsidiary Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has led to slow growth of Hwange urban hence the local authority has been pushing for the amalgamation of all the concessions into one.

“So the situation we seek is to normalise and ensure that wards fall administratively on the local board area. So to coordinate that kind of effort we then need a focal point within the urban area from, which Hwange can do business, that’s why we need a CBD as well as the civic centre,” said Mr Mdlalose.

A civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or centre.

It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include Government offices. Hwange has been without a focal point since its inception in 1899. Hwange is a local board authority created by statute under the Urban Councils Act, Chapter 29:15.

HLB was established in 1974 and due to multiple administration and land ownership by the three parastatals the local authority only administers and offers service provision to three suburbs namely Mpumalanga, Chibondo and Baobab.

@DNsingo

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