HARARE City Council blew a golden chance to capitalise on the commercial value of Glen View Area 8 home industry, when they rejected a private investor’s proposal to set up a model home industry with Dubai standards.
Over the years, the informal traders operating at the complex have been desperate for a major facelift, which the council has to deliver.
The landmark deal would see each trader getting a modern workshop fitted with modern equipment, new ablution facilities and a canteen.
Also, the project would protect the home industry complex from recurring fires, which annually destroy goods worth millions of dollars.
A fortnight ago, hundreds of informal traders at Glen View 8 home industry complex were again left stranded after their wares worth millions of dollars were damaged or destroyed by fire which started in unclear circumstances.
The special presidential investments advisor Dr Paul Tungwarara told The Herald that the opposition-led council had turned down a lucrative offer.
The businessman said he had already secured funding and that the Government had given him the go-ahead to turn the complex into a more formal home industry.
“The CCC led council was given the proposal through the Ministry of Local Government and Public. They rejected the development and they stopped the project.
“The proposal was to set up a model home industry with Dubai standards, each carpenter was to get a modern workshop and equipment to do his work,” Dr Tungwarara said.
Despite the setbacks caused by the fire to a Presidential borehole drilled at the industrial site to improve sanitation, Dr Tungwarara said they are reinstalling new pipes so that people can get clean water for drinking.
As a result of recurring fire incidents, there has been no functional toilet at Glen View 8 complex despite a sizeable population and many have been resorting to open defecation. Most of the time the toilets at the area are either out of order or have no running water.
With the CCC-run Harare City Council having brought service delivery rattling to its knees, congestion, unkempt streets and illegal commuter termini have turned the once sunshine city into a drab city. — The Herald
