Construction of the Mall of Zimbabwe is now waiting an approval by Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which will be made public soon according to an EMA spokesperson Mr. Steady Kangate. Steady has said that they are deliberating on the issue.
Augur Investments have already showcased their plans and residents given their views in a recent stakeholders’ consultation by EMA.
Construction of the mall has been facing challenges in defiance of a government gazette last year that designated the site as a protected area.
Augur chairman Mr Ken Sharpe has said they were not developing the mall on the wetland but around the wetland, following a 2012 Government Gazette declaring the 400-acres mall site a wetland. He has expressed the willingness of the company to save the wetlands and ‘not do anything to harm the wetlands’.
The $100m dollar mall construction project will be undertaken by Augur Investments in partnership with West Properties.
He also added that the agency is on its toes to make sure that all the factors are considered before the construction commence.
“We carried out an Environmental Impact Assessment stakeholders’ consultation, which will assist us to come up with an informed decision,” Mr. Steady Kangate said.
Civil works have already kicked off despite the approval by the environmentalists.
