Times Of Swaziland: 2 WORKERS CRUSHED TO DEATH AT INYATSI SITE

2 WORKERS CRUSHED TO DEATH AT INYATSI SITE
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Mthunzi Mdluli on 23/06/2022 08:55:00


MBABANE - Two foreign nationals died on the spot yesterday when they were
trapped under marble stones, which they were offloading at Inyatsi Construction
Goup Holdings (Pty) Ltd depot.
The depot is located below the International Convention Centre and Five-Star
Hotel (ICC & FISH) construction site. Another foreign national survived with
minor injuries. An eyewitness said the three men were offloading the marble
stones, which were in an intermodal container at the depot in Ezulwini. The
incident happened at around 11am. Information gathered was to the effect that
the deceased were of Asian descent and were among other employees who were
assigned to offload building material, when the marble stones fell on them. A
source close to the matter informed this publication that the other employees
managed to escape when they saw the marble stones falling.
Delivered
“The container was delivered last week and it has to be taken back to India.
The employees were used to offloading the heavy material using their hands.
“Normally, eight or more people offload the material. It was unfortunate that
the material fell on them, killing the two yesterday,” said one of the people
who attended to the scene. The source stated that the injured employee was
treated by paramedics, who swiftly arrived at the scene. According to the
source, a Bobcat machine was brought to the scene after the incident had
happened. Material
A Bobcat machine is used to push materials from one location to another, carry
materials around in its bucket, and load materials into trucks or trailers.
“The duo was already dead when the load was removed,” said another source.
The other source mentioned that they thought only one worker had died, due to
the incident but after clearing the marble stones on the floor, a second body
was found motionless on the ground. He also pointed out that a third employee
sustained minor injuries but had to be rushed to hospital. “Immediately after
the incident, one of the foreign nationals was certified dead and another
sustained injuries. As they continued removing the marble stones, which are
quite heavy, another body was discovered. We were shocked by the incident,”
said the source. News suggesting that two people had died while several
employees were injured and rushed to hospital started making the rounds on
social media shortly after the incident.
Confirmed
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile
Vilakati confirmed that two men had died at the Inyatsi Construction site
yesterday while another sustained an injury. “I can confirm that we have
received a report about two men who died at Inyatsi Construction site, while
another sustained injuries,” she said. Efforts to get a comment from Inyatsi
Construction Group Holdings were futile. Several attempts were made to reach the
Chief Executive Officer, Derrick Shiba, but his phone rang unanswered. A
questionnaire was also sent to Nilson Biton, who is normally stationed at the
ICC&FISH site, where Inyatsi is a contractor. However, at the time of compiling
this report, he had not responded to the questionnaire. He had been asked to
shed light regarding the incident and whether the deceased were employed by
Inyatsi, a subsidiary company or contractor, among other questions.
The incident happened hardly 24 hours after the construction company had
announced a cash reward of E500 000 following the burning of its property.
Information
The company said the money would be given to anyone who may share information
regarding the arson attacks. While no direct link could be confirmed between the
area where the incident happened and the ICC&FISH, it was alleged by some of the
employees that some of the material used in the construction of the convention
centre and hotel was stored at the depot where the two men died. Worth noting,
on September 14, 2019, this publication revealed that about E78 million was to
be spent by government in fitting bathrooms at the  ICC & FISH, with each
bathroom costing the taxpayer at least E275 000. The information was gathered
from impeccable sources. It was also reported that the ICC & FISH was expected
to cost the taxpayer approximately E4 billion.
Bathrooms
It was noted that the bathrooms were manufactured and assembled in Italy and
fitted by a local company based in Matsapha. Our sister publication, Eswatini
News, gathered that about 283 rooms required to be fitted with bathrooms in the
FISH. Eswatini News, in the same year, 2019, investigated some allegations that
the cost of fitting the bathrooms would shoot up to E94 million with
miscellaneous costs involved. It was also gathered that plans had already been
drawn for a proposed loan bill of US$ 83 million (E1.1 billion), which the
Ministry of Economic Planning and Development would require to take the work to
completion. A parliamentary source said the amount spent on the bathroom was too
alarming and created an impression that government was a spendthrift on the
budget for the construction works.  The source questioned why the bathrooms had
to be imported from Italy since there were several emaSwati who could deliver
same, if not more luxurious bathrooms, at a lesser cost.
Confirmed
In that same year, Dr Tambo Gina, the Economic Planning and Development
Minister, confirmed that pods were bought in 2017 but was non-committal on the
monies involved. “There are some bathroom pods that were bought around
2017,” he said. When this project commenced in 2012, government estimated that
it would cost around E370 million; with the ICC expected to set the taxpayer
back by E290 million and the FISH anticipated to be completed with the amount of
E80 million. At the time, the FISH was referred to as the Millennium Hotel. That
financial year (2012/2013), E65 million and E80 million in local funds for the
ICC and Millennium Hotel were released, respectively.
Project
The project is still ongoing and the cost is far beyond the E370 million. This
figure is now a mere fraction of what this project is forecasted to cost.  The
ICC&FISH project stands on land said to measure 40 000 square metres and the
convention centre will host up to 4 500 delegates; while the FISH linked to it
currently has about 283 rooms on six floors. The Book of Government Budget
Estimates for the years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024, which Minister of
Finance Neal Rijkenberg tabled in Parliament a couple of months back, alongside
the Appropriation Bill, shows that the ICC&FISH is now projected to cost the
country an estimated E6.4 billion. The money for the project began to escalate
during the 2015/2016 financial year, when the estimated cost rose to E1.255
billion and the name of the Millennium Hotel changed to FISH. For that year, an
amount of E412 million was budgeted for both the convention centre and the
hotel.
Increased
The following year (2016/2017), the projected cost of the project increased to
around E1.9 billion; an amount of E479 million was released for the payment of
consultancy fees, professional fees and works. In 2017/2018, the project’s
total estimated cost went up to E2 489 590 000; and an amount of E721 800 000
was released for payment of consultancy fees, works and purchasing of land for
the ICC&FISH. In the financial year 2018/2019, the total estimated cost was
hiked to E4.8 billion; with E522 million being released to pay for the ICC’s
civil works, consultancy fees, furniture and fittings; and E989 million went to
the FISH.
Cost
Then, in the financial year 2019/2020, the estimated cost of the project was
first maintained at E4.8 billion; with the ICC set to cost around E2.5 billion
and the FISH at approximately E2.3 billion. A total of E1 235 880 000 was
released for construction, consultancy fees, and payment of Value Added Tax
(VAT) for the ICC. For the FISH, E634 million (E170 million and E464 million)
was released for construction of the hotel, payment of land acquisition,
construction fees, design and supervision, civil works and landscaping, and VAT.
At the E4.8 billion cost, the ICC&FISH was already set to become the most
expensive building on the entire African continent. The Ministry of Economic
Planning and Development then revealed later that year, in its second quarter
performance, that the project would cost E5 473 195 950.