Zimpapers Logo

Municipal Reporter
HARARE mayor Muchadeyi Masunda wants proceeds from the Easipark venture to be disbursed on a quarterly basis as pressure mounts on the city to put to good use funds generated.
However, youth pressure group, Upfumi Kuvadiki has expressed dismay over statements by Mr Masunda that the Easipark deal cannot be reversed.
The pressure group has also dismissed as cheap talk that they are being used, as pawns by some senior politicians and business people, who want to claim a stake in the money spinning venture.
On the proceeds sharing, Mr Masunda said he had impressed on town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi the need to expeditiously cause the payment of quarterly dividends.
“We need a quarterly disbursement of dividends. We ought to see some revenue into the city treasury. We can not do it on a monthly basis,” he said.
Mr Masunda said although there was pressure for the city to withdraw the tender award to the joint venture company, Easipark, this was untenable because Harare had entered into a legally binding arrangement with EasiHold of South Africa.
“I am painfully aware of the plight of the youth. We have, however, entered into a legally binding arrangement. There are legal consequences to face,” he said.
Mr Masunda who reiterated Dr Mahachi’s argument that council was the indigenous component in the deal said people should not fight over the parking venture because the contract will end in five years time.
“You can not become more indigenous than the City of Harare. We are the indigenous component. We will inherit the entire infrastructure. It is a good deal. The only downside is that funds are not finding their way into the city,” he said.
Harare City Council is not new to joint ventures with local businesses. In the 1990s the city entered into a refuse collection deal with a number of local companies. The venture collapsed after the companies failed to deliver. Yesterday members of Upfumi Kuvadiki visited The Herald newsroom to register their displeasure with Mr Masunda.
“The sentiments made by the mayor of Harare Muchadeyi Masunda that Easipark which is partially owned by a South African company would stay are very unfortunate and regrettable. The mayor should realise that the youth of Zimbabwe are not only seeking for employment but have moved a step further to embrace the Indigenisation and Empowerment agenda,” said Upfumi Kuvadiki secretary for information and publicity Mr Blessing Layi.
He said the youth were capable of running the parking business and were of the view that such business ventures should be reserved for locals.
The youth group has since made its proposals in Bulawayo, Mutare, Gweru and Masvingo to operate parking businesses there.
“In Harare we are saying Easipark should go. We are very capable of running that entity,” he said.
He said it defies logic for the city “to invite a foreign player for such basics as controlling parking space in a country with so much indigenous expertise and entrepreneurial flair to undertake such an enterprise”.
“Mr Masunda should not play God by telling us on who to demonstrate against, he should simply set his house and take heed of the voice of the youth,” he said.
Asked whether the youth were not being used as fronts by some established politicians and business people Mr Layi said the youth had among their ranks very capable people.
“We are not fighting on behalf of anyone. We are fighting our own war. We want a piece of the cake. We are not stopping on Easipark alone,” he said.
Mr Layi said should any powerful politicians or businesspeople hijack “the youth struggle” there would be a big fight.
A member of the Easipark management team Mr Alois Masepe said it was unfair to disclose banking details of the venture as it would scare away other potential partners.
He said the city had in 2007 advertised in the mainstream media all the available business ventures resulting in 12 other local companies winning stakes in the other business entities.
“EasiHold of South Africa was the only respondent on the parking management tender,” he said.
According to Mr Masepe the advantage of EasiHold which now has operations in Nigeria, Zambia and Mozambique is that it manufactures its own equipment.
“EasiHold does not buy vehicle control equipment. They have a plant to manufacture the equipment. They produce parking meters as a company,” he said.
He said it was unfair to begin sharing proceeds from the venture now, as it would mean EasiHold would use the proceeds to invest in the business.
“They must implement the joint venture agreement first before they get the profit share,” he said. The deal is expected to encompass all the bus termini in the city among them Mbare Musika, Fourth Street, Market Square, Charge Office and the Cameroon Bus terminus.
Boom gates and vehicle control equipment similar to that installed at the Julius Nyerere and Samora Machel Parkades would be erected at the termini.
At the moment the city is not generating any funds from the infrastructure which has literally been taken over by touts.
The vehicle control equipment has mechanisms to count the number of vehicles and the amount generated from the parking hours.
It costs US$1 for on-street parking for an hour, US$1 for every day parked in the parkades and US$1 for a day’s parking at the Fourth Street and Parklane parking lots.
There has never been a public confirmation of the amount generated from the business although independent sources estimate the amount to be around US$79 000 per month.