The 301 farmers
from Mashonaland West and Mashonaland Central owned 47 farms covering more than
15 500 hectares (ha).
The land is
expected to accommodate over 1,5 million residents once the new city is
completed.
The
compensation process involved two main criteria for land evaluation — farmers
who owned private land and had title deeds and those resettled during the Land
Reform Programme — to ensure fair compensation.
Treasury
prioritised compensation for farmers whose land was affected by the hosting of
the 44th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in August last year.
Permanent
Secretary in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural
Development Professor Obert Jiri said a compensation committee recently
approved monetary compensation for the remaining farmers.
“We have
already compensated five of the farmers,” Prof Jiri said.
“The
compensation committee recently met and approved compensation for a big number
of the farmers and we are now left with only a handful of farmers that we are
still negotiating with in terms of the compensation.
“There were two
types of farmers that were settled at the area: the first type is that of
farmers that owned the farms and had title deeds.
“ These ones
were not affected by the land reform and hence during compensation, the
Government compensated evaluations and the land as well.
“Then we have
another type of farmers who were resettled during the land reform; these ones
will only be compensated for the land improvements.”
Chief director
(spatial and planning) in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works Dr
Shingirayi Mushamba said the land had since been transferred to the ministry.
“When the
farmers were given withdrawal letters, the land was transferred to the Local
Government and development started years ago,” Dr Mushamba said.
An
inter-ministerial committee comprising the Ministries of Lands, Agriculture,
Fisheries, Water and Rural Development; Local Government and Public Works; and
National Housing and Social Amenities has been set up to facilitate the
relocation of about 300 families to make way for the project.The concept for
the new city was approved by Cabinet in December 2018, with the opening of the
new Parliament building helping to catalyse development.
The
multi-billion-dollar metropolis in Mt Hampden, which is anticipated to
decongest Harare’s current central business district, will straddle 15 500ha
and accommodate more than 1,5 million residents on completion, according to the
city’s master plan that was approved by Cabinet.
Three local
authorities — Harare Municipality, as well as Mazowe and Zvimba rural district
councils — will administer the city, which is set to be named after one of the
country’s cultural and heritage endowments.
It is envisaged
that the city will be developed in four distinct phases spanning 10 years.
The first
phase, which will run for two years, entails the creation of traction and
development infrastructure.
It is expected
to be funded through Treasury and “donations from the private sector and other
partners”, according to the blueprint.
Phase two will
involve development of baseline infrastructure through funding from Treasury,
public-private partnerships (PPPs), loans and issuance of bonds, debentures or
bills.
The next phase,
running from year five to 10, will witness the development of commercial,
residential and industrial areas through PPPs, foreign direct investment (FDI),
syndicated loans, development finance and export credit finance, among other
instruments.
The final phase
involves continued development of commercial, residential and industrial areas
from year 10 going forward through private equity, PPPs, FDI and syndicated
loans.
Dubai-based
billionaire Mr Shaji Ul Mulk, who is the founder and chairperson of Mulk
International Group, has begun constructing a US$500 million cyber city in Mt
Hampden. Sunday Mail
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