$30 million for gemology centre:

GOVERNMENT has released $30 million for the development of a gemology centre in the Fernhill Special Economic Zone as Government moves with speed to achieve the objectives set under Vision 2030.

Zimbabwe is seeking to achieve an upper middle-income economy in the next decade.

The centre is expected to feed into the diamond cutting and polishing value chain and will be subdivided into four sections — the School of Gemology, which will offer training courses across the value chain; the Diamond Manufacturing and Lapidary, which will house cutting and polishing companies; the Jewellery Blacksmith and Manufacturing for Blacksmiths and Manufacturers; as well as Ancillary Services that will house all supporting businesses.

This move will attract Foreign Direct Investment into other supporting industries within the Special Economic Zone.

Last year, Mutare City Council donated an 80-hectare plot of land to the Zimbabwe School of Mines, which is expected to run courses for students.

Title for the land has already been released.

Initially, the establishment of the centre was supposed to be spearheaded by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company, under the ambit of the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development.

However, due to the company’s funding challenges, the project has since been moved to the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, while Mutare’s Department of Public Works are the contractors.

Plan Infrastructure Development (PID) were appointed the designers for the gemology centre.

Last week, Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba convened an all-stakeholders meeting which sought to establish the project status and address the challenges being experienced.

“If the funds are there and the land is there, we need to move with urgency, we need to see development on the site. We cannot continue talking of a gemology centre when we have nothing to show for it,” she said.

Minister Gwaradzimba asked officials from the Ministry of Mines and Mining Development, those from the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, as well as officials from

ZCDC and the School of Mines to come up with a way forward to ensure that the project gets off the ground.

PID architecture and infrastructure planner Mr Hillary Mukaratirwa said the gemology centre will be the nucleus of the SEZ, adding that its establishment will entice investment into the SEZ.

“We pushed for Mutare City Council to release the title for the land so that we could lure investors using that. Cabinet resolved that funding for the centre will come from Government through the Public Sector Investment Programme.

“The Ministry of Local Government has been given the mandate to take over the project at this stage, but due to the tendering process, the Department of Public Works in Mutare was tasked to do construction work utilising the $30 million,” he explained.

“The funds have been availed, they can access them to start the project as soon as possible,” said Mr Mukaratirwa.

He said the buildings’ designs had already been submitted to the department for approval.

“The School of Mines has also come up with their curriculum, which has also been submitted for approval,” he said.