Victoria Falls dumps Harare contractor

VICTORIA Falls Municipality has cancelled a $1,7 million street lighting contract with a Harare company arguing that it had failed to deliver and will be inviting new bidders in due course.

Last year, the local authority entered into a reciprocal agreement with a Harare electrical company, Mechanical Electrical Distribution, to install street and traffic lights at a cost of $1,7 million in a Public Private Partnership.

The company was supposed to install the first ever robots and tower lights as well as street lights in the resort town in exchange for advertising space on billboards. The company visited the town in February but never returned resulting in council cancelling the contract.

Town Clerk Christopher Dube told The Chronicle yesterday that the local authority had cancelled the contract because the company doesn't have capacity to do the job.

"The company we contracted to do street lights has failed. We've written to them that we're cancelling the contract," said Dube.

He said the council would re-advertise for new bidders for the project.

Dube said the council had set aside some funds for the project which it wants completed before year-end.

He couldn't be drawn into revealing how much has been set aside.

"They would have done the project in exchange for advertising space and we felt that was a good deal for us but we've now discovered that they have no capacity because the project was supposed to have been completed last year," said the Town Clerk.