The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has threatened to terminate the Egodini Mall contract if the contractor fails to meet set deadlines.
Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube noted with concern that Terracotta Trading Private Limited (TTPL) which was awarded a $60 million tender in 2016 for the redevelopment of Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini, under a Build Operate and Transfer facility has not made notable progress.
TTPL started working on the project in March 2018, resulting in the relocation of vendors and public transport operators, a development which led to congestion in the central business district.
The contractors were supposed to have completed the first phase by November 2019 and after missing it they set another target for March 2020.
Dube said from the progress on the ground there is no hope that the company is going to complete the first phase by March month-end.
“The city council has the authority to terminate the contract when a contractor fails to meet their target. This can be done if there is no reasonable justification from the contracted developer. The slow pace of the Egodini project has undoubtedly emanated in congestion from vendors and random pick up and drop off points for traffic in the CBD,” said Dube.
“The first phase of the project was supposed to be completed by November 2019, but the contractor missed the deadline. We were then given a second target which is the first quarter of 2020. This means the phase has to be completed by March 2020. From the look of things on the ground, there is no hope that this would be possible.”
Dube added that for the council to be able to terminate this contract there is a need for them to adhere to the provisions of the contract.
“The contract can only be terminated in accordance with the terms and conditions provided for, so in terms of moving forward, we will follow what the contract states,” he said.
