.•THE US$15 million Millennium Shopping Mall at Mitengo Housing Complex in Ndola which has been under construction since 2009. Picture By JAMES KUNDA.
By JAMES KUNDA –
CONSTRUCTION work on the US$15 million Millennium Shopping Mall at Mitengo Housing Complex in Ndola is progressing slowly because of financial challenges faced by Gomes Haulage Limited the owners of the mall.
Gomes Haulage Limited executive chairperson Reginald Gomes said the Millennium Shopping Mall has been under construction since 2009 though works on the project have been ongoing and would be completed within a time frame to be determined by the availability of funds.
Mr Gomes said at the end of this month, the firm expects to erect a roof on one side of the facility so that it is rented out to generate income for the construction of the other side.
“The project is ongoing and it will be done in phases based on the availability of funds because it has been difficult for us to mobilise funding,” Mr Gomes said.
Gomes Haulage had so far spent about $4 million on construction at the site and Mr Gomes disclosed that roof building materials for one section had already been sourced.
He said the company had maintained the workforce employed at the beginning of the project despite the works being on a standstill.
Mr Gomes said the project would be completed once all resources had been mobilised as the company invests most of the profits it makes elsewhere into the mall.
