My question Grantland, is where did the production move to, or the
local administration not discuss this? A mon avis, I think that the
local government of this jurisdiction should have had a say and proven
that milk and soy products could be sufficed equally at an alternate
location. It sounds like more bone-headed mismanagement.

mithril@iafrica.com (Grantland) wrote in message news:<40937721.76271152@ct-news.iafrica.com>...

"That was a productive farm and look what has come of it. That's a
typical example of productive land gone to waste," he said.

The Zimbabwe Independent, 30 April 2004

Kintyre Estates Reduced to a Wasteland

Rodwin Chirara

THE once green fields of Kintyre Estates have become a shadow of their
past glory after an ambitious project to turn the farm into commercial
and housing plots failed to materialise.

The farm, which was a leading dairy producer, supplying up to 100 000
litres of milk per month, was also a well-known wheat and soya bean
producer. It was a major fixture on the itinerary of visiting heads of
state as its lush irrigated fields and thriving herds were used to
illustrate Zimbabwe's agricultural success story.

All this ground to a halt in 1999 when the Kintyre Country Project was
launched amidst pomp and fanfare at the five-star Meikles Hotel. To
date, there has been no evidence of either farming or property
development on the farm 40 km west of Harare.

The only major activity is that of contractors widening the Bulawayo
highway in the area. The former dairy project has an air of desolation
about it.

My question Grantland, is where did the production move to, or the
local administration not discuss this? A mon avis, I think that the
local government of this jurisdiction should have had a say and proven
that milk and soy products could be sufficed equally at an alternate
location. It sounds like more bone-headed mismanagement.


Take for instance the " Great Leap Forward" period for China. The
leftist leadership ( Mao Tse-tung) called all the males off the farms
and left the fields for the women, underteens, and old people, so the
strongmen &#8211; citizens of China could help make steel ( ended up
being worthless). After about a year, the fields were neglected
because the farming was too large a job for the women, ( Who had to
take care of the children) the elderly who were too week to move the
strong- tools, and the children who were too young ( teens were called
in with the men to make steel).

So do you know what happened?

A famine ensued and million upon millions of Chinese died. Plus, some
in the Polite Bureau spoke up to Mao and he had them removed, because
HE WAS NEVER WRONG!

Got it!

Efforts to get clarification on why the project has taken so long to
get off the ground were unsuccessful as this paper was referred from
one office to another.

Kingdom Bank, which in 1999 advanced a $425 million loan towards the
implementation of the project, briefly got involved on the basis of
the capital provided. The bank has since pulled out and has received
its full refund.

The Zimbabwe Independent contacted CB Richard Ellis, who were the
project marketers, who directed this paper to AMG Chartered
Accountants. In turn the accountants referred this paper to High
Brass, the project managers. High Brass referred the Independent to
their chairman, Science and Technology permanent secretary, Vincent
Hungwe, for clarification. He was said to be away in India.

CB Richard Ellis managing director Abraham Sadomba simply said: "What
we only did is that we sold 50 plots during phase one of the project.
We have not done anything on that project for the past 12 months. We
do not know what is happening there."

The project launched in 1999 was aimed to create a horticultural hub
and 10 000 jobs, but to date there is no sign of activity taking place
at the farm.

It is not clear who is supposed to service the stands with AMG
claiming that they were only responsible for auditing accounts for
Kintyre and restructuring High Brass which owns the project.

High Brass is reported to be struggling to service and demarcate a
large chunk of the land with 50 stands ranging from 10 to17 hectares
earmarked for agriculture having been serviced.

An official of High Brass, Peter Mashayamombe, said there were
managerial structures being put in place at the company and professed
ignorance of any implementation problems.

"There was some addition and subtraction of some land. This is typical
of any project. All infrastructure that had to be put in has been put
in," said Mashayamombe.

He blamed vandalism as the main cause for the delay saying electrical
and irrigation equipment had been damaged.

Ben Kaschula, a provincial executive of the Commercial Farmers Union,
said the situation on the farm was symptomatic of what is happening
more generally.

"That was a productive farm and look what has come of it. That's a
typical example of productive land gone to waste," he said.

"That farm had a good irrigation system, with hectares of land under
it but all that seems to have disappeared," said Kaschula.

President Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania was taken there during his
state visit in 1983 amidst great publicity and presented with dairy
cows. Their fate is unknown.