HARARE – Zimbabwe’s new parliament building, built and funded entirely through China as a gift to the southern African country, is now complete and fit to be occupied.
It took 42 months to complete the project, up from the initial 32 months due to COVID-19 disruptions. Construction began in November 2018.
Located on the historic hill of Mount Hampden, about 18 km northwest of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, the six-story construction is an architectural piece that fuses Zimbabwean and Chinese features.
Shanghai Construction Group Company, the contractor, on Wednesday conducted a guided tour of the construction media before it was officially passed to the Zimbabwean government in the near future.
SCG’s director of assignments, Cai Libo, said the final touch of the assignment is a milestone for the China-Zimbabwe friendship that continues to flourish.
“There is no doubt that the construction of the new parliament will become a historic construction in Zimbabwe and even in southern Africa,” Cai said. allocation. As of 2020, we have faced many demanding situations due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. We intended to finalise this allocation last year but were delayed due to the COVID pandemic, but now we have reached the end and are hoping to hand over this construction to the Zimbabwean government.
The construction of the new parliament is one of the most important projects of China-Africa cooperation, which aims to strengthen friendship and solidarity between the other peoples of Zimbabwe and China, while the parliament facilities provide a better service to the rest of Zimbabweans, he said.
“The task strongly supports democracy in Zimbabwe while strengthening the country’s image,” Cai said.
The final touch of the new parliament building, which relies heavily on the iconic ruins of Great Zimbabwe, also portends the beginning of a new capital, as Zimbabwe’s government plans to establish off-site infrastructure such as residential areas, grocery stores and shopping malls. roads to identify a new autonomous city to decongest the capital Harare.
The government also plans to establish structures for two branches of government: the executive and the judiciary in Mount Hampden.
The reinforcement construction has a combined land of 33,000 square meters, with two main sections: a six-story office construction and a four-story parliament construction. The office building and the parliament building are connected through 3 bridges on the ground.
Since the existing parliament construction was built in colonial times and is now old and small to accommodate the affairs of parliament, the National Assembly of the new parliament construction has a more than sufficient area, with a capacity of 400 seats in front of the 270 members of the House of Representatives. Asamblea. La new Senate chamber has a capacity of 150 seats, compared to the existing 80 senators. The new design has more convention facilities, 15 committee rooms and sufficient area for workplace staff and parking.
The construction of the workplace six hundred rooms, adding workplaces for VIPs, deputies and parliamentary officials.
In total, the construction has the capacity to accommodate 1,000 people.
Cai said sharing and moving skills is one of the hallmarks of the project.
“This building is a historic building in Zimbabwe. This is evidence of a strong friendship between China and Zimbabwe. It is a gift from the Chinese government to the Government of Zimbabwe. It was financed through China Aid funds, it is a grant to Zimbabwe and not a loan so that there are no invoices to make in the future. All parliamentarians will use this construction and parliamentarians will serve the whole country, so it is a gift for the whole country,” Cai said.