Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has remained tight-lipped on when the Bulawayo Vehicle City management System is likely to be implemented after the government approved the US$2.2 million partnership with Tendy Three Investments (Pty) Ltd.
BCC last year finally awarded the contentious tender to Tendy Three, which had taken more than years since it was first mooted.
The local authority had earlier on been dragged to court by one of the bidders – Megalithic – accusing BCC of irregularly cancelling the tender that it had won.
Speaking during a post-cabinet briefing Wednesday, Information Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, said the government had considered and approved the proposed partnership between Bulawayo City Council (BCC) and Tendy Three (Pvt.) Ltd. on the vehicle parking management system project for the country’s second-largest city.
According to the company’s website, Tendy Three Investments (Pty) Ltd is a 100 percent black-owned group of companies, some of which were established over many years and have been operating since 2001. The group is fully incorporated in South Africa and has expanded operations into Zimbabwe and Angola.
“The Bulawayo Vehicle Parking Management System Project is a 30:70 Public-Private Partnership between the Bulawayo City Council and Tendy Three (Pvt.) Ltd,” explained Mutsvangwa.
“The two main objectives of the project are revenue generation and employment creation. The project involves the installation and maintenance of a fully integrated parking management system which will allow users to pay parking fees using their mobile phones and other payment methods. Surveillance equipment will also be installed on all streets in order to aid traffic management in the city.”
Mutsvangwa said the introduction of the system will increase revenue generation to the local authority, in the process improving service delivery.
“Tendy Three (Pvt.) Ltd will invest US$2.2 million into the project, which will have a capacity of 7 200 parking bays,” said Mutsvangwa.
“Some equipment worth US$700 000 has already been acquired for the project. The project will have an annual turnover of between US$1.1 million and US$1.8 million and will create employment opportunities for 450 people. The partnership will run for a period of six years.”
The other benefits of implementing the system, Mutsvangwa said include, among others, real-time vehicle detection and recording, ability to guide motorists to available parking bays, allowing effective and efficient workforce management, convenience to the motoring public; and decongestion of roads.
Asked when the project would begin, Bulawayo Town Clerk, Christopher Dube, said authorised to go ahead they would advise the public accordingly.
“Once we get authorisation, we will start planning,” Dube told CITE.
“It is not something that will come from me as an individual, it will have a plan, a plan which will also be shared with everyone. For now, let’s keep it under wraps because there are some issues that cannot be divulged at this stage as part of our agreement with the investor. Some people have been asking where the company is from, is it from Bulawayo or not and who the directors are.”
He added: “Let’s wait a bit on this one until we have been authorised to go ahead with the project. Once we get that authorisation, we will then share the programme with Council and then everyone will know.”
