BRITAIN is building a 10-million-pound complex for its embassy in Harare despite the British government's calls for foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe to pull out of the country, The Herald reported on Wednesday.
Chief executive of leading construction group Murray and Roberts, Brian Bruce, recently revealed that his company was contracted nearly 18 months ago to build the complex just outside Harare's central business district.
“It is a completely new facility from scratch, costing 10 million British pounds. Work began about 18 months ago and is pretty close to completion," Bruce said.
Murray and Roberts Zimbabwe is 48 percent owned by Murray and Roberts, Johannesburg in South Africa and is listed separately on the local bourse.
The building is now close to completion and insiders said the British Mission in Harare would relocate there "late this year or early next year."
Observers say the project exposes British hypocrisy following repeated claims by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and several of his ministers that Zimbabwe was not a safe country to do business in and that companies operating in the country should relocate as part of the illegal regime change agenda.
In essence, this means that the British government is investing in Zimbabwe while discouraging companies like Anglo-American and Barclays from doing so.
Keith Scott, the first secretary for political and public affairs at the British Embassy in Harare, on Tuesday admitted that Britain was indeed expanding its presence in the country despite official pronouncements calling for sanctions.
"It is right that the UK should plan an embassy commensurate with its interests in Zimbabwe," Scott said without explaining why they were expanding while at the same time coercing others to pullout.
He added that their position was that "individuals must look to their own consciences as regarding investments" in Zimbabwe.
Britain, together with the United States, has been at the forefront in urging companies to pull out of Zimbabwe and last week their bid to have United Nations sanctions imposed on the country was thwarted by several members of the UN Security Council. – Xinhua
ARTICLE ATTACHMENTS
READER OPINIONS
Omugabe • Dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Look Inward & Look East for Self-development, Zim Patriots! Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:22:39 • Dhehwa
Your thinking is warped; and it demonstrates the 'success' of the destructive british brainwashing of SOME African minds.
The reason that Zimbos are in the UK of the racist brits is due to BRITISH UNPROVOKED INVASION & SCATTERING OF AFRICANS!
Africans are not in Russia precisely because Russians DID NOT colonize Africans.
Friendship is not judge by being in the space of a racist enemy as SERVANTS & SLAVES, while your own country needs you ot develop it!.
Friendship is judged by being allowed to be comfortable in YOUR indigenous space.
Many Zimbos were not allowed to be comfortable and progress in their ancestral lands; because they were invaded UNPROVOKED and scattered by the beastly brits!
Europeans ARE NEVER friends of Africans.
Friends DO NOT invade, rob, rape, murder, enslave, colonize and sodomize you!
And those are the atrocities that the racist brits and other evil Europeans have carried out against African people.
The Russians are FRIENDS of Africans; because the Russians have always helped Africans to free themselves from the evil European domination.
Ghifari Al Mukhtar Trinidad & Tobago • ghifarix@gmail.com Subject: Africa ever had a chance? Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:24:02 • Stooges dare to believe that this WHITEMAN will ever mean good for us. It is so disgraceful when these green card Negroes living in rat holes in Europe and America trifled on the fringes of the law policed by bigots sincerely embrace this wicked White war monger as an example for pulling African Revolutionaries down. These monkeys crawl into their racist infested rat holes throughout Europe and America whenever they spot a police or gov official yet swallow this bull that Mugabe is tyrannical. They wouldn't tell you of the daily humiliation they face yet they expect their leaders to deliver Hollywood pipe dreams of success over night- 20 years is overnight. Have we not seen how Europe have evolve and at Africa's expense? Africa never had a chance and its ungrateful sons and daughters aren't smart enough to tell it
chitakochangonya • c.changonyas@msn.com Subject: zanu pf Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:53:43 • looks like talkzimbabwe is becoming a zanu pf mouthpiece.the way this article is written to discredit the british government.the truth is the british gvt have an obligation to zim people than the current mugabe gvt.Britain is simply taking a long term view as the current regime days are numbered.even if the British were investing the scale of of investment is pittance in relation to the size of wealth and would not bring any significant returns.Besides British gvt does not make direct investment unless it private and public ltd companies.Editor please tipeiwo maserious.we tired of the rubbish coming fron Harare Pravda(Herald) and to bear your vitriolic rubbish is too much to bear
Simon Nyirenda • tamarasvd@hotmail.comI Subject: information Sun, 20 Jul 2008 19:51:31 • Information has stalled dear editor why?
Omugabe • Dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Look Inward & Look East for Self-development, Zim Patriots! Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:00:50 • The is anotherBritish House of Spies by the racist enemies of Africans.
Zimbabweans should seriously consider cutting ties with the anti-African british bigots.
It is foolish to knowingly entertain yet another Trojan Horse filled with known ENEMIES of Africans.
The risks of interacting with the racist Europeans vastly outweigh any 'benefit' arising from such interaction.
'Look Inward' and Look East, Africans.
In the enlightened East lies the FRIENDS of Africans.
Large embassies in Zimbabwe should be fill with KNOWN, FRIENDLY ASIANS!
Europeans have always been racist enemies of Africans.
It is time to cut the IMPOSED ties to the evil Europeans.
Patrick Fletcher • hajray@@gmail.com Subject: Britain builds US$10 embassy complex Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:42:33 • Regardless of how this story is written, the fact still remain that Britain is building a embassy in Zimbabwe while asking everyone else to get out or else. This is down right hypocrisy, and also sending the signal that Zimbabwe is theirs.
MrK • bannie2020@hotmail.com Subject: On The Cheap Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:05:51 • So what is it, ten US dollars or ten million british pounds?
Anyway, the most important issue is - Britain dos not have interests in Zimbabwe. They should could their blessings that every single Brit hasn't been thrown out of Zimbabwe, the way they have attacked the Zimbwean government, economy and society.
First they renege on their 2 billion pound obligation to pay for land reform, and then they try to organize sanctions against the country and destroy it's economy.
guess you are now confused with what your own mgabe has done to the zimbabwean economy.
Dhehwa • n/a Subject: Keep it simple Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:39:47 • Britain has a relationship with the people of Zimbabwe that goes far beyond the current regime.
Zimbabweans know better who their true friends are. If you have any doubts, do your statistics of Zimbos in the diaspora, how many are in Russia and how many are in the UK.
When this is all over, we will start to go to UK institutions for coorperation. Yes, nobodt denies that this relationship started as a horse and rider, that is the unfortunate part. how friends meet is one thing, how they develop their friendship is another.
As far as one can judge UK is the country with the strongest cultural link with Zimbabwe and for all the goodness of life I hope such a relationship will continue.
n/a • n/a Subject: UK Embassy in Harare Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:20:51 • Brown,Blair and New Labour policies /sanctions on Zimbabwe have had a devastating effect on the lives of the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans.Why is the UK investing such an obscene amount in building an embassy in a country where its policies have made the economy scream? Why is the UK expecting companies to cease operations in Zim whilst the govt itself is investing in the country? The majority of Zims are not going to view such developments kindly.
Ranga • n/a Subject: n/a Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:22:18 • The British have never said they will cut diplomatic ties with Zimbabwe.
jim • n/a Subject: Articles Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:13:09 • This article is biased - whatever the truth, the way it is written gives a certain standpoint. Is this on purpose?
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