E78M FOR ICC, FISH BATHROOMS

EZULWINI – The International Convention Centre (ICC) and Five-Star Hotel (FISH) is being fitted with luxurious bathrooms that are costing the taxpayer at least E275 000 per bathroom.

The total amount that government will fork out for the bathrooms, according to impeccable sources close to the matter, is E78 million. It has been reported that the ICC&FISH is expected to cost the taxpayer approximately E4 billion.

The bathrooms were manufactured and assembled in Italy and are being fitted by a local company, ACS, which is based in Matsapha.
Eswatini News gathered that there are 283 rooms requiring to be fitted with bathrooms in the Five-Star Hotel.
Members of Parliament who are members of the Economic Planning and Development Portfolio Committee, together with Millennium Projects officials, toured the facility where they were shown around on Thursday.

Venture

The tour was guided by the contractors in the joint venture who are Kukhanya Construction, Inyatsi Construction and Steffanuti Stocks (KISS). The contractors are on record having complained that government owed them E493 million, which was threatening progress of the work.

Eswatini News was also investigating allegations that the cost of fitting the bathrooms would still shoot up to E94 million with miscellaneous costs involved.
However, the allegations could not be immediately confirmed as the company charged with the work declined to be interviewed yesterday.
It was gathered that plans had already been drawn for a proposed loan bill of US$83 million (E1.1 billion) which the ministry will require to take the work to completion.

To date, government has spent E1.027 billion to keep the construction process ongoing, while the work done was said to be valued at E1.144 billion.
A parliamentary source said the amount spent on the bathrooms was too alarming and created an impression that government was being a spendthrift on the budget for the construction works.

“Why did they have to import these bathrooms from Italy because there are several emaSwati who could deliver the same, if not more luxurious bathrooms, at a much lesser cost?

Realistic

‘‘We have not opposed the construction of the hotel, but we need to be realistic on the costs involved, otherwise the national coffers will dry up under our watch,” said an irate MP.
He insisted there were several Eswatini companies who were eligible to do the work as the material was available.
“This is a loan that we should pay as emaSwati. We are also leaving a bad legacy to the youth who will come after us. We will definitely ask the minister to come and respond to questions on the extravagance used in the construction of the ICC&FISH.”

Minister of Economic Planning Dr Tambo Gina confirmed that bathroom 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.
He promised to find out how much was billed for the bathrooms but by the time of going to the press, he had not returned.

Respond

He also could not respond to texts and phone calls.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for the Economic Planning, MP Mduduzi Magagula, said there had to be control on the use of finances for the project so that it does not become extravagant.
He said the most important task now was to complete the construction and have the ICC&FISH officially opened.

Trouble

“If the construction of the project is stalled, what has already been done will all be a waste of public funds and we will be in serious trouble because when construction eventually resumes, the costs will double.”
He confirmed that there was a proposed loan bill of US$83 billion but said he did not have any further details on it for now.
“We will see this when it is brought to the portfolio committee. For now, we have scanty information of where the loan will be made from, and what it will finance in the construction phase exactly,” he said.’

The MP lamented that if the works were to stop, because of shortage of funds, hundreds of workers on site could lose jobs and the national crisis would deepen.
Meanwhile, international credit rating agency Moody’s remarked that Eswatini’s debt ration was alarming and that it could spiral out of control. However, government has been insisting that the country’s debts had not reached alarming proportions.

Eswatini News visited the site yesterday for clarity on the bathrooms but was referred to the Ministry of Economic Planning.

Increase

Dr Gina told our sister paper, the Times of Eswatini Daily, on Thursday that the ICC alone still required E314 million to be completed. He said the required amount could still increase.

Other works requiring separate costs estimates were earthworks, piping and diversion of a river which altogether needed E1 billion. It was reported early this year that the project would be completed by December 2020.

Also to be included in the project are vertical gardens, which will make the hotel a “green building”, in that it would feature a retaining wall that will be used for supporting the soil laterally so that it can be retained at different levels of two sides. The wall, it was said, would be the highest in the Southern hemisphere with a height of 26 metres.

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