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The construction of the conference centre was expected to begin last month and is yet to take off.
The conference centre is supposed to be built ahead of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly to be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia in Victoria Falls and Livingstone on the Zambian side in August next year.

In an interview on the sidelines of the World No Tobacco Day launch at Manjolo Secondary School in Binga on Friday, Minister Gabuza said Chettels Investments was charging the Government $13 million for the project — a figure he said was exorbitant considering that the structure was supposed to be temporary.

“So we are saying $13 million is too much for a temporary structure. We have asked the company to justify the amount since it will be aluminum metal with a few glasses. If we can pay that company $13 million for something temporary, why then can’t they just construct something permanent as that figure is a lot of money?”

“That is why I said that we have not secured a contractor for the project because no company has signed a contract with us for that project,” he said.

Minister Gabuza said his ministry had asked for the bill of quantity and costs but nothing had been brought to his attention by Chettels Investments.

“So we are still looking around for a cheap contractor,” he said.

Minister Gabuza said one project that had taken off was the refurbishment of the Victoria Falls District hospital.

“Right now there is progress on the ground, labour is still being engaged right now and locals are getting employment,” he said.

Zimbabwe and Zambia last year won the bid to co-host the UNTWO General Assembly.

More than 3 000 delegates are expected at the world’s biggest tourism event.

In February, Government announced that it had secured more than $200 million for projects aimed at sprucing up Victoria Falls ahead of the world tourism event.

Some of the projects to spruce up the resort town are the upgrading of road infrastructure in the town and the rehabilitation of the Victoria Falls International Airport.