Chinese to carry on with hotel construction

significance as it was originally set aside for growing indigenous trees to preserve it as a wetland and was commissioned by President Mugabe in 1987.
Several prominent people including former presidents Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and the late First Lady Sally Mugabe planted trees at the site.
Responding to questions during a Press conference ahead of World Wetlands Day commemorations, EMA director-general Ms Mutsa Chasi said the firm had already started complying with the directive.
“The process has started to make sure that they rectify the issue. They are being requested to put in place mitigatory measures and to maintain a notable distance from the nearby river,” she said.
Environment and Natural Resources Minister Francis Nhema said it was unfortunate that the wetland was being destroyed.
Minister Nhema said his ministry would lobby for more powers to unilaterally stop such developments in future.
“At the moment the best thing we have is to have the company conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment to see the possible ways they can mitigate total destruction of the wetland,” he said.
Many wetlands in the country are being destroyed as most local councils allocate land for commercial and residential purposes on these sites.
Dangers of building on wetlands include flooding and development of cracks on the built structure as happened with the National Sports Stadium a few years ago. – New Ziana.