Nust seeks firms for hostel project
THE Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IBDZ) has invited construction companies interested in building student hostels and staff accommodation at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) in Bulawayo to come up with their proposals for the project by July 7.
The Nust project is part of the bank’s $75 million project to build state of the art hostels at state universities across the country.
“The construction works will entail main works; three and four storey hostels and ancillary facilities, civil works, mechanical works, electrical works and furniture.
“External works will include a guard house, landscaping, car park, water and sewer on site reticulation, stormwater drainage and perimeter wall,” said IBDZ in an advertisement.
It said a compulsory site meeting will be conducted on June 30 at Nust for interested bidders.
Last year, Treasury approved the bank’s request to issue bonds of over $100 million in the next five years for it to undertake infrastructure projects.
The first project will see construction works being undertaken at Lupane State University (LSU), Nust and Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE).
The second phase will target the University of Zimbabwe, Chinhoyi University of Technology as well as Great Zimbabwe University.
IDBZ infrastructural projects director Mr Desmond Matete last month told The Chronicle that the building projects at different universities are expected to take up to 24 months as they will be done simultaneously by different contractors.
“The whole programme will cost us about $75 million doing state of the art student accommodation for a maximum of 1 600 students per hostel.
“We believe this intervention is very important and the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education and Science and Technology Development will in future include other higher learning and tertiary institutions,” he said.
The hostels project comes at a time when university students are facing accommodation challenges, which has seen unscrupulous landlords cashing in on the desperate students. — @AuxiliaK.