Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Sunday News Correspondent
The contractor who was engaged to build the Gwanda Magistrates Court, Mutual Construction has come under fire after failing to deliver.
Construction of the building began in 2004 and Government last year released $5,8 million towards completion of the magistrates court but little work has been done since then. The building is now at roof level. Gwanda, which is the provincial capital for Matabeleland South, does not have a proper structure forcing court officials to turn offices in a Government building into court rooms.
Speaking at a Press conference on Friday after a tour of the project and a closed meeting with the contractor and other stakeholders that included Minister of Local Government and Public Works Cde July Moyo, Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Ziyambi Ziyambi and Chief Justice Luke Malaba expressed concern over the state of the project.
“The purpose of our visit here with Ministers Ziyambi Ziyambi and Minister July Moyo was to inspect the construction of Gwanda Magistrates Court. We wanted to see what progress has taken place since resumption of works at the site in April 2019. The project started in 2004 and stopped in 2006 and resumed briefly in 2012 but stopped again.
“From April 2019 after my visit to the site we agreed that the contractor who had been working on the project had to be given an opportunity to continue with the project for purposes of contractual obligation. He was briefed and given timelines which his company had to meet,” said Chief Justice Malaba.
He said more visits to the site were conducted in August and December last year but there was no progress as was expected in the agreement. He said this became a grave cause of concern for the Judicial Services Commission in view of the magnitude and significance of the building.
Chief Justice Malaba said it was then resolved that there was a need for a visit by a high-powered delegation of ministers who are stakeholders in the project to the site. He said officials from the Department of Public Works and Judicial Services Commission had been tasked to meet and discuss a way forward.
Online Reporter