Zanu’s still born bio-diesel project
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Sandile Maera
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 09:26
CHIPINGE – The US$600 million ethanol project in Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi
has still not taken off due to faction infighting, as Zanu (PF) fat cats
squabble around the feeding trough. (Pictured: Sugarcane is being grown to
fuel the bio-diesel project, but as the project is stalled, it is being sold
to Triangle Sugar Company instead.)
It has been more than a year since a Zanu (PF)-linked company was
controversially awarded over 50 000 hectares of Agricultural Rural
Development Authority (ARDA) land for the project.
ARDA officials in Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi confirmed that the project, a
joint venture between ARDA and Rating Investment Ltd and Macdom Investments
Ltd was being hampered by renewed fighting within Zanu (PF).
A senior ARDA official said the 50 000 hectares of sugarcane grown at the
estates in Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi were now being resold to Triangle
Sugar Company, as construction of the ethanol plant has so far remained a
pipedream.
“We are afraid that the nation will again be duped as it was during the
Chinhoyi diesel saga. The project was given this land on the understanding
that it would produce 80 per cent of the country’s ethanol needs, but on the
ground it appears that the project is just there to grow sugarcane for
resale to companies which produce raw sugar,” said the official.
The official was referring to a situation in 2007 when the Zanu (PF)
government turned to a witchdoctor to solve the country’s fuel woes and was
duped by Rotina Mavhunga, ‘the diesel n’anga’ who fooled the cabinet
ministers into believing
that diesel was oozing from a hill in Chinhoyi.
Project opposition
He went on to say that most politicians in Manicaland were still opposed to
the bio-diesel project as they were not consulted. The only ones aware of
the joint venture were Minister of state in President Mugabe’s office,
Didymus Mutasa, Agriculture minister, Joseph Made and acting ARDA Chairman,
Bazil Nyabanza.
According to the official, most leaders in the area were of the opinion that
instead of constructing a new bio-diesel plant, the government should have
revived the ethanol plant in nearby Chiredzi which used to produce 15 per
cent of the country’s fuel needs in the 1980’s, but was abandoned due to
lack of government support and uncertainty brought about by the chaotic land
reform.
“Leaders in the area are also afraid that Zanu (PF) will lose more support
as over 500 families in Chief Garawa and Chief Mupungu areas will be evicted
to pave the way for the project. They are asking why the project has to
re-invent the wheel, when the ethanol plant in Chiredzi has been lying idle
for years,” said another ARDA official.
The ethanol plant was supposed to produce over 40 000 litres of fuel every
day when operational.
Acting ARDA Chairman, Bazil Nyabadza, and the project’s General Manager,
Graeme Smith, could not be reached for comment.
Last year, ARDA and controversial businessman Billy Rautenbach’s Rating and
Madcom investments entered into a 20-year Build, Operate and Transfer
arrangement to transform estates at Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi into
sugarcane fields which were intended to feed the proposed bio-diesel plant.
The deal resulted in the sacking of ARDA CEO, Erickson Mvududu, who opposed
the project, arguing that the government would not benefit. He said that
only private players would see a return on the venture.
Rautenbach was also reportedly facing similar resistance in Masvingo where
his Zimbabwe Bio-Energy company entered a joint venture with the Development
Trust of Zimbabwe to utilize over 100 000 hectares of land at Nuanetsi ranch
for another bio-diesel project.
An additional multi-million dollar bio-diesel project constructed by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe at the height of its quasi-fiscal activities, has
become a white elephant. The project, which was launched by President Mugabe
three years ago amid pomp and fanfare, is no longer operational.