Source: China-Exim Bank water rehabilitation loan yet to be released – NewsDay Zimbabwe June 16, 2017
HALF of the $144 million loan extended by China-Exim bank in 2011 for the rehabilitation of water in Harare is still to be released as government has not yet given the greenlight for its full disbursement, NewsDay has learnt.
by XOLISANI NCUBE
So far only $72 million has been released with the bulk of the money going towards refurbishment of the Morton Jaffray water works.
Harare mayor Bernard Manyenyeni told NewsDay on Wednesday that council was still waiting for government to give the go-head to release the remaining $72 million needed to complete the long overdue project.
“The matter is being handled at higher levels. The Ministry of Finance is engaging the Chinese financiers to release the money, we are only hoping that this will be done as soon as possible,” Manyenyeni said.
The $144 million deal has been a subject of controversy with reports of inflating of prices and abuse of funds by council management.
Council minutes from the finance committee stated that the two parties, the Chinese bank and Harare, were yet to agree on when to start repaying the loan.
Residents have also questioned the $144 million deal with some alleging that it was being misused by senior council officials while others accused the Chinese financiers of placing strict conditions, among them that all materials and equipment would only be sourced from the Asian country.
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