THE Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is reportedly refusing to repay a US$5 million Iranian loan which was used to refurbish the broadcaster’s studios claiming some of the equipment supplied under the deal was defective.
The loan was part of a US$15 million deal reached in 2004 between the Zimbabwe government and Tehran with about US$10 million going to the Agricultural Rural Development Agency (Arda).
A report by parliament’s portfolio committee on Media, Information and Communication Technology presented last week stated that the ZBC only paid back US$300000.00 adding managers were refusing to stump-up the balance.
“To date ZBC still owes the Iranian company à5-million as it is accruing interest,” the parliamentary report says.
The money was used to refurbish and modernise television studios at the corporation’s Pockets Hill broadcasting centre in Harare’s leafy Highlands suburb.
