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Gibson Nyikadzino-Herald Correspondent

Zimbabwe is set to acquire fire trucks from Belarus under a bilateral agreement at a delivery cost of US$464 296, each, the lowest among top European suppliers of such trucks, whose prices range between US$468 000 and US$518 000 each.

The disparity in the price range of fire trucks is because they are not standard products, and Zimbabwe has so far not paid anything towards the procurement of the Belarusian fire trucks.

The government-to-government deal between the two countries emanates from established bilateral relations which in turn do not require the role of local authorities in the tender process as guided by Zimbabwe’s legislation.

Aftrde DMCC, appointed officially by the Belarusian government as the representative of manufacturers of the machinery, will ensure that the supply and service of the equipment will be done without prejudicing the existence of the deal.  

Mr Emmanuel Ngwarati, the Acting Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works yesterday said the government-to-government deal was done lawfully as the role of local regulatory authorities does not apply as contained in Section 3(2)(a) of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.

Mr Ngwarati also said the input regards the designs and models of the expected fire trucks were given by the Chief Fire Officers Forum of Zimbabwe (CFOFZ) at a stakeholders meeting.   

“We wish to advise that adequate consultations were made with various stakeholders, including local authorities and the CFOFZ who made a request to government for the facilitation of international procurement of durable and affordable fire tenders.

“They also submitted ideal specifications that suit the local environment, which were forwarded to potential suppliers in Belarus. The Chief Fire Officers Forum approved the models and designs which they believed best suited their operations,” said Mr Ngwarati.

The POZHSNAB fire truck, specifically designed for the Zimbabwean market, is among the cheapest from top European suppliers. 

Compared to other fire trucks from European suppliers, those to be delivered to Zimbabwe will have a doubled single-space cabin for the crew from reinforced fibreglass not subjected to corrosion.

The fire trucks will also have a carrying capacity of 5 000 litres of water compared to what other competing suppliers offer, that is a capacity of 2 500 and 4 500 litres of water at a price range of between US$468 000 and US$518 000, only for European markets.

Besides Zimbabwe, another West African state (name supplied) has since received Belarusian fire trucks at a cost of US$980 000. After beating other competitors from Europe and Eurasia, in 2020 Belarus also supplied fire trucks and other ranges of goods to Mongolia ranging between e86 000 and e495 000. 

The price of fire trucks, specified under the terms of Carriage and Insurance Paid (CIP) to Harare, includes cost of set of spare parts for service support, training classes for technical specialists in Zimbabwe’s ten provinces and the secondment of ten people from Zimbabwe for special technical training classes in Belarus.

Upon delivery, the fire trucks will be paid in twelve equal instalments monthly without requirements of providing further financial securities to which Zimbabwe will not incur additional expenses.