Will the Mbabane City look like this for good?

MBABANE – The sorry site of the country’s capital, Mbabane has remained unchanged despite the hullabaloo when it was announced that there was going to be a corporate centre and co-operative bank.

Newspapers were awash with artistic impression drawings detailing how the two would look like and everyone was looking forward to that time when the projects would be utilised. That excitement went to an extent of even naming the people expected to occupy those shops and offices.

The dead silence on the issue of the two buildings led Swazi News to seek answers on whether the town will look like this for many years to come or something was being done to correct that anomaly.
Two buildings have been crying for help in the heart of the capital as one drives into town. Kentucky Mbabane has undergone a major facelift but that has been overshadowed by their neighbour the Corporate Centre (white elephant) whose construction had to come to an abrupt halt as a result of a dispute between two partners.

The partnership was between Kirsh Holdings and the Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC). The two disagreed on the amount that was to be spent on the development of the centre. After a long running court case the two finally agreed to part ways such that their divorce was going to see one of the two taking charge of the centre.
Swaziland Industrial Development Company (SIDC) preferred to keep mum on the issue because Dr Tambo Gina would not like to comment on the Corporate Centre.

“I am sorry I cannot comment on the Corporate Centre,” said Dr Gina.
Speaking on behalf of Kirsh Holdings, Paul Friedlander said they were hopeful that something good would one day happen that can see the project completed.

“We are hopeful that one day something good would happen that would see this project completed, for now that is all we can say,” said Friedlander.   
The other building that is an eye sore belongs to the Swaziland Association of Credit Organisations (SASCO) and it is situated behind the Mbabane Mall.

Acting CEO Grace Dludlu said her office was still engaging a number of interested people who want to partner or buy the whole project from them at the moment.
“At the moment there is nothing substantial that I can report on how far things have gone with regard to the project. Some have come with offers to buy and some enquire on prospects of buying but we cannot disclose much as of now.

It is true that there were quite a number of people who have indicated interest, so talks and meetings were ongoing with regard to the issue. The only hiccup for now was with the offers or strategic partnership agreements provided we end up partnering with other people,” said Dludlu.

An independent economist told Swazi News that these two projects were an embarrassment for the country because it was a sign of poor planning. Speaking on condition of anonymity the economist  who is a specialist in macro-finance believes that government should have a policy on major projects to be built.

“The SASCO may have been sabotaged by local financial institutions that felt threatened by the fact that SASCO was going to run a co-operative bank which was going to see the poorest of the poor breathing a sigh of relief,” said the economist.
He said it was very disappointing to see such projects collapsing and structures rotting away just because of poor planning and gross miscalculations. The source alluded to the fact the country’s co-operative organisations were not capable of managing projects of this magnitude.

The economist wants government to have a policy in place so that should organisations like the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) come on board the Swazi taxpayer would be protected from litigation.
“The DBSA deals with governments so our government should have a clear-cut policy on that so that we do not find ourselves having debts of projects that were grossly miscalculated,” added the economist.  

        
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Thembinkosi Mamba said they were in the process of reviewing all laws that govern towns in the country and such anomalies would be addressed by those laws.
“We are in the process of reviewing the country’s Rating Act and the Urban Act so that we can be in a position to set standards. At the moment there is no policy that governs so as a ministry we cannot compel the owners of these buildings to do something with their structures.  There are a lot of buildings that do not conform to international standards but just because there was no statute so our hands are tight,” said Mamba.