BULAWAYO councillors have revived a motion for the cancellation of a tender awarded to a South African engineering firm to redevelop Egodini bus terminus to a multi-purpose mall.
In 2012, Bulawayo City Council contracted Terracotta to redesign Basch Street terminus to a modern mall, under a build-operate-transfer arrangement.
The company projected a total cost of US$60 million for the project.
Terracotta has, however, failed to deliver on the project, having missed several deadlines with only a terminus and vending spaces opened to the public last year.
According to the latest council minutes, city fathers said it was high time the contract was cancelled and awarded to other players.
“It is now very clear that the contractor is failing to deliver,” Bulawayo Proportional Representation councillor Melisa Mabeza was quoted saying in the minutes.
“As such, the contract should be cancelled. Residents are complaining that councillors are engaging in corrupt activities.
“A meeting should be organised with the contractor.”
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Ward 17 councillor Sikhululekile Moyo concurred.
“The current disorder in the CBD [central business district] was caused by the delay at Egodini Mall,” she said.
“It is very clear that the contractor has no capacity to do the project.”
In November 2023, ward 15 councillor Ashton Mhlanga moved a motion for the cancellation of the tender.
"The motion was not supported, instead an engagement was made,” the minutes read.
“This engagement resulted in the completion of phase 1, which involved the construction of the commuter omnibus terminus, vending stalls and ablution facilities.”
At some point, the contractor blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for disrupting civil engineering works, amid mounting pressure on the local authority to cancel the contract and re-tender the project.
Once complete, the mall will be Bulawayo’s second major infrastructural project in about two decades, after the Bulawayo Centre Shopping Mall whose construction was completed in 2007.
Reports emerged in 2023 that mayor David Coltart was in discussions with South African company McCormick Property Development to speed up the construction of the multi-million-dollar Egodini Mall.
