Vic Falls Town Council, Wild Horizons clash over l...

Vic Falls Town Council, Wild Horizons clash over land

Zim Now Writer

Victoria Falls Town Council and Wild Horizons, a private company are embroiled in a row over land that is threatening to scuttle the construction of a US$50 million hotel in Zimbabwe’s premier resort town.

VFTC has informed Wild Horizons that it was selling the land it held a 25-year lease on, to an investor wishing to build a seven-star hotel and was therefore requesting Wild Horizons to vacate the property.

The proposed hotel is reportedly owned by gold miner Scott Sakupwanya.

On the other hand, Wild Horizons argues that as the sitting occupant of the land in question, VFTC must give it the first right of refusal.

However, VFTC says that was not part of the terms of the lease agreement and instead offered Wild Horizons a piece of land next to the site the hotel is to be constructed on.

Wild Horizons has refused to accept the offer.

“A full council meeting, which was deferred on February 3, is expected to deal decisively with the matter when it next convenes.

“Council received an application to construct a seven-star hotel estimated at around US$50 million, which would invariably employ more than 200 people, the majority of them being locals.

“Council then notified the lease holders to vacate within 90 days as provided for in Section 18 of the lease agreement.

“Wild Horizons responded by rejecting the council’s position and they claimed that that move would cost 700 employees their jobs, but in our view, the jetty site does not employ more than 10 people,” Town Clerk, Ronnie Dube, said.

“It is the council’s considered view that the new applicants would add value in the development trajectory in line with the National Development Strategy 1, which calls for employment creation. This will also imply that council will be able to charge rates, unlike the $7 000 lease rental being paid now. The relocation on its own would even create more employment with the beginning of construction which will benefit most businesses in Victoria Falls,” Dube said further.

Wild Horizons said it had hoped that the council would address the matter at its deferred full meeting where it had its representative attending, adding that the company will attend the full council meeting to defend its position.

“We await advice from council on the next full council meeting where we will eagerly attend to defend our position,” wrote Wild Horizons corporate affairs and business development director, Barbra Murasiranwa-Hughes.

A former councillor, who declined to be named, said Wild Horizons should propose something more meaningful in terms of business since their current business may not even be prejudiced if they move to the new site.

“Council should follow due process in dea;ling with the issue. But on the other hand, Wild Horizons must not stop a development that will obviously benefit the city.”

Victoria Falls now houses the country’s first ever foreign currency-only stock market, the VFEX — which has seen some of the big counters listing their stocks — after successfully exiting the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.