MARONDERA- The ZESA Pension Funds shopping mall under construction in Marondera is
expected to open its doors to members of the public during the second quarter of the year.
This was disclosed by the project manager, Engineer Lloyd Ngoro during a tour of the
building by the secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Tavabarira Kutamahufa and
other Government officials to assess the situation on the ground in terms of progress made
to date.
Engineer Ngoro said construction was progressing well and the whole project is now at 90
percent completion, with many companies having already indicated that they will occupy
suites in the imposing structure situated next to SPAR Marondera.
“I can safely say that this project is now slightly over 90 percent complete and our target is
to finish off the job by the end of March before opening the doors to members of the public
at the beginning of April this year.
“Among the occupants in the mall will be Bola Hardware and Bon Marche entities that will
be our anchor hardware and supermarket respectively. There will also be a drive-inn, Surrey
Pies, Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINARA) and Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission
and Distribution Company (ZETDC) among others. A hospital will also be opened during the
second phase of the project,” he said.
Provincial secretary Kutamahufa was impressed by the progress being made and was
optimistic that the mall will change the face of Marondera.
He said: “This is a modern mall and when complete, it will spruce up the image of our
provincial capital. Quite a number of activities will be packaged here and a lot of economic
activities will be taking place. In a nutshell, Marondera will not be the same again.”
After touring the ZESA Pension Fund shopping mall, the delegation also site visited the
council water works, Hunyani Nampack along the Harare-Mutare highway, DA Motors
service station and Take and Tile in the Central Business District (CBD).
Late last year, the Provincial Development Programme (PDP) implementation and
management directorate visited selected projects sites in Mashonaland East to come up and
agree on a comprehensive database for the PDP.
Other objectives were to agree on effective structures for the management of PDPs as well
as to agree on reporting format highlighting progress in terms of implementation, emphasis
on contribution to national economic growth, job creation, enhancement of citizen
livelihoods and contribution to national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The site visits came at a time the Second Republic is identifying and implementing high-
impact projects that include, among others, those that frame infrastructure and utilities,
housing delivery, food and security as well as well as economic and structural development.
Sites that were visited included the ZESA Pension Funds shopping mall, Dombotombo-
Chikomo drive walk-up flats and Marondera University of Agricultural Science and
Technology (MUAST) in Marondera, Mapfumo shopping mall and Muchinjike clinic in
Murehwa, the Government Composite office block, Mutoko bio-diesel plant and Chatiza
science lab in Mutoko, Lithium Mine, Beta bRicks and Kunzvi Dam in Goromonzi as well as
Seke road, Melfort bridge and the Harare-Mutare highway which is currently undergoing
dualisation.
The director in the department of programmes and projects George Madzimure told senior
provincial managers that this is in line with the Government’s commitment to uplift the
people’s standard of living.
“There is need for urgency and the upholding of good corporate governance in this exercise.
Our economic growth at both provincial and Government level should also be taken into
consideration.
“Government is in the process of identifying high-impact projects that should either be
started or completed within agreed, feasible timeframes. As a province, you should take
advantage of their competitive advantages and promote production and value addition,” he
said.
