GOVT, MITC OPTIMISTIC ON K22BN HOTEL PROJECT
Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa and Malawi Investment and Trade Centre (Mitc) chief executive officer Clement Kumbemba are optimistic that the hotel project Portuguese construction conglomerate Mota-Engil wants to build in Mangochi will proceed once misunderstandings with people around the area have been sorted out.
Mota-Engil recently cancelled plans to build a $50 million (about K22 billion) hotel at Monkey Bay in Mangochi following strong protests from the community.
However, speaking in separate interviews, Kumbemba and Nankhumwa said the project is important and it will be supported fully so that it takes off.
“We are optimistic that misunderstandings that surround this project will be sorted out. This project will not only benefit the tourism sector, but the people around the area will also gain employment.
“In fact, last week a taskforce was in Monkey Bay to get to the bottom of the matter so that construction can start, for the benefit of both the investor and the people in Monkey Bay,” said Kumbemba.
Minister of Information, Tourism and Culture Kondwani Nankhumwa said his ministry is one of the stakeholders in the project and want a solution so that the investor starts construction works.
He said: “I am aware that an inter agency committee comprising officials from the ministries of Lands, Tourism, Local government, Trade and Industry were in Mangochi to find out why people around the [proposed site of the project] are reluctant to see the project take off. Even though I have not seen their report since I am out of office, I am optimistic that everything will go on accordingly and the people of Monkey Bay will understand the importance of this landmark project.”
Nankhumwa said it was not surprising that some people did not understand how the project would be implemented because they were not given details on issues of compensation and relocation.
“This is a huge project and we needed to package our information in such a way that everybody understands how they are going to benefit from it. We will make sure that all grey areas are cleared so that nobody complains once the project starts,” he said.
When announcing the cancellation of the project, Mota-Engil Malawi public relations and media consultant Thomas Chafunya said: “The situation on the ground forced the company to cancel the construction of the proposed hotel”.
While indicating that the company remained upbeat on investing in different sectors of the country’s economy, including tourism, Chafunya said Mota-Engil was no longer interested in the project as its expectations turned out to be negative.
Business News could not get hold of Chafunya to get his side of the story yesterday as his phone was out of reach.
According to the agreement for the aborted plan, the company proposed to construct a world-class tourist attraction site comprising a five-star hotel and a golf course under Public Private Partnership (PPP) in the area of Traditional Authority (T/A) Nankumba in the district.
However, the communities around the 100-hectare land government allocated for the project protested against it, describing the area as “too huge” and the project “misguided” as it would affect more people than those that would benefit from it.
At the peak of the protests against the project in February this year, one community member died and a vehicle belonging to T/A Nankumba was stoned after angry subjects turned against the traditional leader for allegedly ‘siding’ with the project’s proponents. n
