Gweru cancels tender, demands refund

GWERU mayor Josiah Makombe has said the local authority's lawyers are working to recover money paid to a Chinese company to instal solar traffic lights, but failed to complete the project, leading to the council terminating the contract.

The municipality awarded the contract to Drewland, the Chinese company, in 2013 with a target of installing solar-powered traffic lights at 16 intersections in the city at a cost of $500 000.

But when council terminated the contract over non-performance and sought to recover the money, Drewland challenged the move.

"Our legal team is working on getting what was paid to the contractor," Makombe told a Press conference last week.

"Our traffic lights are not working and some intersections have not been installed with solar traffic lights after the contractor failed to complete the job."

Five years ago, the council moved to replace all the traffic lights in the central business district with solar-powered ones following regular power cuts.

The project also sought to reduce power costs incurred by the local authority from the electricity-powered traffic lights.

Meanwhile, Makombe said council would soon start installing street lights in the city.

Many street lights in Gweru have gone unrepaired for over 10 years, exposing residents to muggings by criminals, especially at bus terminuses at night.