Parly Committee Finds Cabins, Incomplete Fence At Wicknell's Gwanda Solar Power Project Site, Despite $5 Million Advance
The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy today toured the site of Gwanda Solar Power Project to check on the progress that has been made since the $200 million project was awarded to Wicknell Chivayo’s company Intratek Zimbabwe. The portfolio committee which is led by Norton legislator, Temba Mliswa, however, discovered only two cabins as well as an incomplete perimeter fence. The cabins are purportedly being used to house workers and tools. There were no signs of any progress. An Intratek official who was present said that his role is to monitor part of the perimeter fence although he had no knowledge of when the rest of the fence will be completed.
Chivayo’s company was awarded the US$200 million tender by the Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) for the Gwanda Solar Power Project after Stanley Kazhanje the chairperson of ZPC allegedly prepared the tender documents for him. However, meaningful progress is yet to made on the project almost two years later despite the fact that Chivayo received an advance of US$5 million from Zesa in irregular circumstances. Kazhanje later told the same committee that Chivayo had been actually advanced $7 million and not $5 million as had been previously claimed.
The portfolio committee’s visit comes a few weeks after Wicknell appeared before it. At the hearings, Wicknell’s business partner Yusuf Ahmed disowned him and said that he had no idea what had happened to the $5 million advance.
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Temba Mliswa also said that the committee had established that Intratek was given 260 hectares in irregular circumstances. Officials from the Zimbabwe Power Company said that they were in the process of transferring the land back from Intratek. The committee then summoned ZPC to appear before the committee to explain why it was taking long to transfer the land.
