In a document seen by the Zimbabwe Independent, dated
November 9, 2021, written to Transport and Infrastructural Development minister
Felix Mhona and copied to President Emmerson Mnangaga and his deputy
Constantino Chiwenga, Defence minister Oppah Muchinguri and Finance minister
Mthuli Ncube, CHEC dangles a carrot to implement an expanded project to
modernise the airspace management system.
“As a state-owned company of the People’s Republic of China,
we hereby invoke the spirit of the Comprehensive-Strategic Partnership of
Cooperation that exists between our two countries and invite the Government of
Zimbabwe to consider this project as a China-Zimbabwe strategic co-operation
project,” reads, in part, documents gleaned by the Independent.
Details obtained this week show that the government was in
the process of drafting specifications for the large-scale national air traffic
management system (radar). An inter-ministerial committee is yet to make the
necessary recommendations to Cabinet.
However, through the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of
Co-operation, CHEC has already made solid proposals to the government for the
upgrading of the radar system. The project will be financed through
concessional funding packages from the People’s Republic of China, documents
show.
Harare and Beijing have for long enjoyed a cosy
relationship and Mnangagwa and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, in recent
years agreed to elevate bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic
partnership.
This is what CHEC is riding on to clinch the lucrative
expanded radar upgrade system project.
The Independent has previously exclusively reported that
security organs under the Joint Operations Command (JOC) ensured that the radar
system tender was awarded to “friendly nations” instead of companies from
countries considered to be hostile to Harare.
A Spanish company was sidelined from the tender after
security vetting.
CHEC won the aviation system contract as a sole bidder
after other bidders lost the energy along the way following a restricted tender
limited to China and Russia only, deliberately excluding Western bidders.
Approached for comment yesterday, Mhona declined to comment
on the latest developments.
“We are not in a position to comment on that matter. At the
moment, we can only comment on the contract already awarded to the Chinese company
(CHEC) on the modernisation of the navigation system,” he said.
CHEC representative in Zimbabwe Tan Bosheng did not respond
to questions sent via WhatsApp and SMS.
It is understood that for the initial radar system tender,
CHEC has already started manufacturing Air Traffic Control Communication
Systems (ATCCS) materials at its own cost despite payment delays from the
government. CHEC cites the Comprehensive-Strategic Partnership in forging ahead
with the project.
In aviation, the collapse of the ATC communication system
would signal the last straw of Zimbabwe’s precarious aviation industry.
The delays in implementation of the radar upgrade has
raised questions in parliament.
Last week, Transport and Infrastructure Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee chairperson Oscar Gorerino queried the delays over the
upgrade of the radar system.
“It is very dangerous to have a non-functional radar
system. Why is it taking so long to be upgraded? There is a need for a change
of strategy. What is worrying is the continuous change of tender awarding
without matching progress on the ground,” he told a committee meeting.
However, top CHEC officials are said to have visited the
country for high-level meetings.
According to diplomatic sources Beijing, which has revamped
Zimbabwe’s major airports, has already lined up a comprehensive funding package
for Zimbabwe’s critical airspace project which has faced perennial financing
challenges and multiple tender award cancellations.
CHEC is one of China’s state-owned infrastructure companies
and notably the second largest marine engineering company in the world with
specialty in submarine and airspace surveillance infrastructure and
infrastructure construction of all modes as seen through its deep involvement
in the artificial island construction in the South China Sea.
CHEC is a Chinese government strategic firm formed in 1980
which was later placed under the China Communications Construction Company
(CCCC) in 2005 as a strategic asset when the Chinese government undertook its parastatal
reforms.
It is the overseas arm of CCCC, which operates foreign
markets on behalf of the Chinese government.
CCCC, CHEC’s parent group is the largest transport
infrastructure company in the world and is highly rated in terms of financial
clout even by Chinese state-owned company standards whilst its subsidiary CHEC
is the second largest marine engineering company in the world and a key driver
of China’s global Belt and Road Initiative.
CHEC was last year blacklisted by the United States
government for its involvement in the South China Sea conflict. CHEC, which
explores foreign markets on behalf of CCCC, is one of 24 Chinese multinational
companies that were blacklisted by the US.
According to the US Commerce Department, the companies have
been targeted “for their role in helping the Chinese military construct and
militarise the internationally condemned artificial islands in the South China
Sea”.
Chinese companies are dominating in major sectors of the
economy such as mining, agriculture and infrastructure development. Zimbabwe
Independent
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