A Swiss company paid millions of dollars by the government has failed to meet the deadline for completing the 18 state-of-the-art presidential villas in Mt Hampden, which are expected to host heads of state and government during the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit tomorrow.
Alternatively, officials are trying to find change accommodations in Harare.
The government hired a Swiss business with a 500-person crew and spent millions of dollars importing supplies from the United Arab Emirates, hoping to finish the villas before the summit.
According to NewsDay, at the construction site in Mt Hampden yesterday, workers were busy working just two days before the summit.
Several heads of State and government, including Presidents Nangolo Mbumba (Namibia), Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Lazarus Chakwera (Malawi) and Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane (Lesotho Prime Minister), arrived yesterday.
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Deputy chief secretary and national co-ordinator for flagship programmes and projects in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Amos Marawa, who is overseeing the construction of the villas, did not answer calls.
However, sources in government said the visiting leaders were likely to stay at Hyatt Regency (formerly Meikles Hotel), Rainbow Towers and Monomotapa Hotel.
“This is not the first time Zimbabwe has hosted a summit of that magnitude. We have hotels in the country that will accommodate VVIPs who are coming for the summit,” said the source.
In May, Marawa, told the State media that 500 engineers from Mabetex Group, a Swiss civil engineering and construction company, will be complemented by 300 local artisans.
Mabetex specialises in large-scale construction projects and has experience putting up and renovating historical buildings, administrative and public buildings as well as industrial plants. It also boasts expertise in urban development projects, it was reported.
Marawa, back then, said they expected construction of the villas to be completed by mid-July, well ahead of the summit.
“And from the programme, they have told us a villa will take two days to erect. They will have six teams working in parallel,” the government top engineer was quoted as saying.
“So, we are confident that they will be able to finish the whole process ahead of the summit. As I said, by mid-July, they should be able to hand us the keys and we will be ready to host our VVIPs when they come for the summit itself.”
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