A HOUSING boom is expected in the country which will see an initial 2 000 civil servants getting houses in a pilot project that has already started in Bulawayo with the recipients expected to move into their houses in April next year.
The project is set to spread to Harare and Marondera once
the pilot project has been completed with more units being constructed for the
Government workers.
The initiative will go a long way in addressing the
national housing backlog that is currently pegged at just over two million.
Providing decent accommodation for workers and citizens is
one of the top priority areas for the Second Republic which targets to provide
1,2 million housing units by 2030 to clear the 1,5 million housing backlog
countrywide.
President Mnangagwa launched the Zimbabwe National Human
Settlement Policy in September last year and the Ministry of National Housing
is operationalising the policy in partnership with the private sector in line
with Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
Delivering affordable and quality settlements in urban and
rural areas is one of the Government’s core targets to improve access to
affordable and quality housing and social amenities under the economic
blueprint.
The Government is working on various housing schemes for
its workers with flats planned at health institutions, amid plans to have
onsite accommodation at all places of work.
Most of the works is in partnership with the private
sector, and Shelter Afrique, a pan-African housing development financier that
provides housing solutions in the continent recently extended a US$25 million
sovereign credit facility towards the construction of 3 000 housing units
countrywide, with at least 300 units expected for each of the 10 provinces.
In the Bulawayo civil servants’ housing scheme, over 2 000
Government workers from the city are set to get houses at Emthunzini suburb
which is being administered by Hawkflight Construction and another developer
who will build houses in the Rangemore area.
The Bulawayo scheme was initiated by Zanu-PF provincial
chairperson, Cde Jabulani Sibanda, who was, however not reachable when
contacted for comment.
Hawkflight’s legal and operations manager, Mr Martin Moyo
yesterday revealed that after the completion of the pilot project in Bulawayo
they will move to Harare then Marondera.
“This is a facility which as a company we have been doing
for some time but this time around the Government is taking a lead role where
it has been noted that there is a need to empower our civil servants by giving
them their own houses.
“What will happen is that those interested will pay an
administration fee of US$250 then they will get a complete house, either a two
or four roomed and then they will pay monthly rentals of US$158 or US$198
respectively, for the next 25 years,” said Mr Moyo.
He said as a company that is into property construction
they had seen it fit to come up with the scheme so as to play their role in the
development of the nation.
“The Bulawayo project is a pilot programme to the
nationwide venture where we will move to Harare then Marondera, where civil
servants will be given the houses of their choice. This is the little we can do
towards the Second Republic’s goal of leaving no one and no place behind,” said
Mr Moyo.
Meanwhile, the Government is also working on modalities to
facilitate a housing scheme for journalists in the country with plans already
underway to build 1 000 flats as part of the first phase.
Land would also be availed to journalists to start
projects.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Deputy
Minister Kindness Paradza made the revelations at the recent Tripartite
Negotiating Forum (TNF) retreat in Victoria Falls saying providing
accommodation for journalists is one of the strategies the Ministry will
implement with the aim of improving conditions of service for members of the
Fourth Estate.
Deputy Minister Paradza said the scheme came through
engagements with the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and a private
developer has already been identified with modalities being worked out.
“What we have done as a Ministry is that after the ZUJ
leadership came to see us with the Minister (Monica Mutsvangwa) they talked about
lack of accommodation for their members and also land in terms of farms and
plots.
“The Minister assigned me to go and find out whether we can
have investors who are willing to assist in this regard and so we have
identified one developer who we are working with right now. The developer has
sent in the proposal and the Minister is dealing with that,” said Deputy
Minister Paradza.
He said engagements are underway as he had been assigned to
spearhead the process.
“So this land developer has the capacity to build for now,
1 000 flats for journalists who will have to pay say 10 percent deposit and
thereafter pay just a minimum for a period of time. So we are working on that
and the flats will be everywhere in all provinces.
The idea is to engage local authorities to set up land for
these developers,” he said.
ZUJ secretary-general Perfect Hlongwane said the
engagements are part of efforts to address the welfare of journalists.
He said ZUJ has about 1 500 members across the country and
is on a mobilisation and recruitment drive to grow numbers.
“It’s a fact that a scheme is being worked on to ensure
that our journalists are home owners which is something that we set out to do
from the onset.
We have been engaging and we continue to do so with the
public and private sectors for this and we are happy that the Ministry gave us
an ear and have so far identified a land developer who we shall let people know
of in due course when we are done with the preliminary process,” said
Hlongwane. Sunday Mail
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