admin
Remember Deketeke-Herald Correspondent
Plans to renovate and convert Mbare’s closed and vandalised Carter House in Harare into a budget hotel are already in motion, with the new hotel expected to cater for farmers, traders, tourists, and travellers in town on business and needing affordable overnight accommodation.
The facelift on Carter House, constructed after independence, is seen as a measure to also ease accommodation problems for traders who come to Harare to buy wares in bulk for resale.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said the repurposing of Carter House would address the problem of space barons who are milking home seekers and conducting illegal housing allocations in Mbare.
He said the Government will work with the Harare City Council to ensure residents are provided with adequate services.
“We are also aware of the farmers that bring produce to Mbare who need accommodation while they go about selling their produce to the people, which usually takes days,” said Minister Garwe.
“The Government is going to redevelop and repurpose Carter houses to budget hotels with affordable rates for farmers that are coming from far places who cannot travel the same day or afford certain hotels.”
The building which holds more than 300 bedrooms and a state-of-the-art kitchen, has not been operational for 15 years due to the incompetence of Harare City Council which hindered the survival of the place that once was the heart of Mbare.
It used to employ more than 50 people.
During a visit to the site, the news crew witnessed shattered windows, old decayed roofs and doors among other things.
A look into the inside of the building was met with huge resistance and authorities who guard the premises said the news crew should seek consent from council authorities.
The pronunciation by Minister Garwe comes after HCC in 2018 approached the High Court seeking an order to evict land barons from the local authority’s Carter House building in Mbare.
In 2023, again Harare City Council made plans to turn the house into a state-of-the-art maternity Hospital though the idea failed to see the light of day.
The hotel project, Minister Garwe said, would expedite urban renewal, urban transformation, and the retrofitting of the city’s deteriorating buildings.
“So, Mayor Mafume, we want to work together to ensure that we provide a service to the residents of Harare.
“The no-compromise service delivery starts here. We are directed to pursue and ensure that we implement the policy on urban transformation, the policy on urban regeneration, retrofitting our buildings that are dilapidated and too old.”
Residents in Mbare also welcomed this initiative, saying the move will not only transform Mbare, but aid in the urban transformative process.
“This hotel will also come with its development like tarred roads, street lights, new ablution facilities that will transform Harare into a world-class city,” said Mr Thomas Chijongwe.
Online Reporter