By Brenna Matendere
Gweru Mayor Councilor Martin Chivhoko has announced streamlined measures to boost the decade long dry coffers for the erstwhile glamorous city of progress.
The measurers include opening up a truck stop at Clonsilla and reviving the historic milk cow of the city- Go Beer Breweries.
If Gweru council becomes liquid and have its finances boosted, the burden of residents will be significantly reduced in these days of dire economic hardships.
In his monthly state of the city address released this week, Chivhoko asked his compatriots and city residents to help him achieve his vision.
“I am happy to announce plans to diversify revenue sources by the reviving of the Go Beer brewery and investing in the Clonsilla truck stop. These initiatives will aim to bolster financial stability and support city development projects.
“In this year we will see the revival of go beer brewery and the birth of a truck stop,” he said.
Chivhoko also celebrated the council’s feat in containing cholera and updated residents on the state of vital organs of the council such as the engineering department, road traffic management and market development.
In July 2020, council announced that it had partnered an unnamed “giant” opaque beer manufacturer to revive Go Beer, but the deal reportedly collapsed.
The previous council led by former mayor Hamutendi Kombayi once called on management to compile a report on Go Beer Breweries before the local authority entertained any plans to resuscitate the business.
But no report was ever availed.
Several residents who spoke to NewsDay said the reopening of Go Beer was long overdue.
Go Beer was closed in 2014 after years of plunder by the management of the firm. During that same year, after the council announced it had shut down Go Beer, municipal police and auditors immediately moved in and locked beerhalls around the city to institute a probe on the company’s business activities, but to date no culprits have been brought to book.
At its closure, the beer establishment was reeling under a US$2,6 million debt and was failing to honour its obligations at the Local Authorities Pension Fund.
Since the dollarisation of the economy in 2009, the cash-strapped local authority has been bankrolling the beer concern to the tune of US$2 208 914, channelled towards payment of former Go-Beer creditors and employees who sued the council.
The beer concern lost equipment and cattle, which were attached to cover retrenchment costs, although council in 2018 managed to pay all retrenched workers.
However Chivhoko who has vast experience in business where he is a property magnate in real estate business, is confident of turning back the hands of time and make the city the nerve centre of industry and commerce.
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