I’m sorry, says developer

A housing developer who accused Bulawayo council officials of being corrupt after the municipality had turned down his application for a $7.8 billion housing project that was to be funded by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) has apologised, saying he acted out of emotion.

Bopse Land Developers had applied to the council to buy 645 stands in Cowdray Park. It said NSSA would provide $7.8 billion for the project, which would be administered by the Zimbabwe Building Society (ZBS), now FBC Building Society.

The council, however, turned down the application in April because Bopse had failed to complete another project in Pumula South involving more than 300 stands.

The company appealed to the council, saying circumstances were now different.

“This is a new funding package to finance the servicing of stands and there is no possibility of failure as Bopse are the project managers and NSSA will pay for the whole project implementation with ZBS administering the project,” the company said in its appeal to the council.

The council rejected Bopse’s appeal in July, saying that at the Pumula South project, overall housing construction was just 20 percent.

If NSSA was the applicant and had the money, it could engage other developers to do the job so that Bopse could concentrate on the stands it had been allocated in Pumula South, the council added.

The council’s decision irked Bopse and its boss, Tendai Muzarabani, accused the city fathers of being corrupt and stifling development in Bulawayo.

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