NEW PARLY PROJECT IS ON

MBABANE – Government will, during the current financial year, commence the building of the new Parliament structure, starting by erecting fencing and a guard house.

This entire project will cost about E1.6 billion and will be funded by a loan from the Republic of India. The progress of the project was announced by the Prime Minister, Cleopas Sipho Dlamini, in his written responses to the Senators Portfolio Committee of the Prime Minister’s office’s first quarter performance report of the current financial year. Dlamini was responding to a question posed by Senator Sylvia Mthethwa, who had asked the PM to appraise the portfolio committee on the progress of the project.Dlamini further stated that there were also ongoing discussions with the financier regarding reviewing the drawings as per the Members of Parliament’s (MPs) recommendations.

Progress

The same question about the progress of the Parliament building was posed to the Minister of Economic Planning and Development, Dr Tambo Gina, as his ministry was the responsible ministry for the project. The question was posed by Senator Prince Mshengu. In his response, the minister said the lease for the land measuring five hectares had been secured and blessed by His Majesty King Mswati III. Dr Gina also stated that short-listing of the professional consultants (architects, engineers, quantity surveyor), who would be responsible for the management of the construction of this project, had been done. He further added that advertising for the contractor to do the temporary fencing of the project site was ongoing. He said once the professional team was hired, they would start with the design review to ensure these were suitable for local conditions.

Health

The new Parliament building received quite a lot of critics from several formations and members of the public. They argued whether the building was really a necessity compared to other national needs like procuring of drugs as they were often a challenge in the country’s health facilities.Despite the calls to stop the government of India from extending the loan facility for the proposed construction of the new Parliament, Eswatini government insisted that there was a need for the new building.

In a joint statement issued by the Speaker, Petros Mavimbela and Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini, after the announcement of the project, they said the current building was inadequate and had to be renovated frequently at a substantial cost to government and this was not sustainable.They said the current Parliament building was built in 1967, to accommodate a few parliamentarians before the country gained independence in September 1968.
“Over the years, Parliament operations have changed and the building has not responded to these changes,” reads the statement.

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