The sale of Government houses and flats to sitting tenants has been halted with immediate effect as part of measures to address shortages of accommodation for civil servants, with more housing to be built through a revival of the National Housing Fund and private sector initiative.
The decision to dispose of Government properties to sitting
tenants was made in the late 1980s as an empowerment initiative that resulted
in the disposal of at least 75 percent of State-owned housing, with only the
uniformed services and the Health Ministry hanging on to most of their housing.
There was little corresponding construction of new houses
and flats to replace those sold, resulting in the current shortages of
accommodation for civil servants, a shortage that devolution will accentuate
until more houses and flats are built in provincial centres.
At its sitting yesterday, Cabinet reversed the policy of
selling Government properties to sitting tenants following a presentation by
National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Daniel Garwe of a proposal to
revive the National Housing Fund to address the general housing demand in the
country.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister
Monica Mutsvangwa said after the meeting that Cabinet was told that there was a
countrywide demand of two million housing units, while local authorities’
waiting lists had a demand of 1,5 million housing units, inclusive of civil
servants’ requirements.
Minister Mutsvangwa said Cabinet noted that planned
devolution was creating structures at provincial level that required more
housing for personnel in provincial centres while staff movements through
transfers and promotions had compounded the accommodation challenges.
“With a view to alleviating the accommodation challenges,
Cabinet approved as follows: to recapitalise the National Housing Fund and the
Housing Guarantee Fund portfolios, and to institute forthwith a moratorium on
the disposal of Government pool properties.
“Suitable land will be availed across the country for the
engagement of building brigades in the construction of Government pool houses
in line with a comprehensive national housing provision programme, whose chief
aim is to empower citizens and civil servants, including those in rural areas,”
said Minister Mutsvangwa.
She said the Government would use the model of multi-storey
flats and higher densities of housing as it builds more accommodation to use
land optimally and provide amenities efficiently and at manageable costs.
Blocks of flats allow more homes to be built for the same
amount of material and higher densities mean more homes can be serviced by
every kilometre of expensive roads, sewers, water pipes and electricity mains.
“In line with the Second Republic’s thrust of private
sector-driven development, the private sector, pension funds, banks will be
facilitated to partner with other sources of funding in order to avail
resources for housing construction.
“A user-friendly mortgage system will be designed for the
purpose of easing the burden of home-ownership for various categories of
citizens,” she added.
The Government has already started rolling out 200 000
affordable houses and flats in partnership with the private sector. The
programme has started in Norton with the development of 2 200 stands on
KockMallock estate.
More land for development of the housing programme is still
being identified across Zimbabwe.Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African bank, has put a
facility of US$65 million to fund housing through building societies and the
Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) under the housing programme.
Cabinet also discussed strategies to ensure agricultural
productivity in the forthcoming season.
The main thrust is to ensure farmers have inputs ready and
waiting on the farms when the rains start falling so they do not waste part of
the season and so Cabinet resolved to speed up the distribution of inputs to
farmers under the support programmes already being implemented by Government.
The main programmes under which farming activities are
being resourced include the Climate-Proofed Presidential Input Scheme, the
Command or Smart Agriculture Programme, and the Presidential Cotton and Sesame
Programme.
Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister
Dr Anxious Masuka made the presentation where it was resolved to fully
implement announced strategies to increase production and ensure food security
and exports.
Said Minister Mutsvangwa: “In fulfilment of these
objectives, Cabinet noted that the distribution of inputs will be expedited for
crops as well as for livestock production, while Agritex will be capacitated to
achieve greater mobility following the procurement of motor bikes that will
soon be distributed to the provinces.
“The Agritex officers are already assisting farmers
countrywide with soil sampling and analysis in order to ensure appropriate
agronomic practices.” Herald
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