FCC gives developer six month�s notice
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday October 24, 2017 15:41
The council leased the market facility to Equality Holdings, a wholly citizen owned company, in 2004. The agreement was revised more than a year ago. Under the lease agreement Equality was supposed to refurbish the market and turn it into a new state of the art Central Business District (CBD).
Council spokesperson, Joseph Wasubera said the company was given a final six-month termination notice this week. In the last full council meeting the council noted that it intend to terminate the agreement with Equality.
This came after Equality failed to comply with certain aspects of the lease agreement particularly starting developments.
The council initially notified Equality about its intentions to terminate the market lease last month.
“What has come out from our interactions with the developer is that the company is still mobilising resources. If the company manages to secure resources and start developing the plot within the notice period then we will not cancel the lease agreement,” FCC clerk Mompati Seleka told Mmegi yesterday after an interview with the council spokesperson. Seleka added that under the revised agreement the developer was supposed to have started developments some months ago.
“The lease agreement we signed with the developer does not allow us to instantly cancel the lease agreement in case of any breach by either party. We have cautioned the developer about our intentions and given him six months (as per the contract) to put corrective measures in place with reference to certain aspects we are not happy with in the contract,” Seleka said.
The FCC has in the past indicated that it has constantly cautioned Equality senior officials to start the development of the market plot.
In the last full council meeting councillors called on the council to instantly terminate the central market lease agreement because the developer had taken too long to develop the plot. The lack of development of the market has often been a source of worry to the councillors.
Councillors also said t is not a wise move to lease the plot when the council is struggling to find suitable space for vending activities in the city.
However, the motion was halted after the city clerk indicated that the council has already written a termination notice to the developer. Seleka said councillors should wait for the outcomes of interactions between the Equality and the FCC regarding the notice of termination. Equality managing director Norman Moleele recently told Mmegi that he was not ready to talk about the termination subject with the media.