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Bulawayo has not seen as much mass housing development, especially in the high density sector, as Harare has in recent years. As a result while the capital is growing rapidly in all directions, Bulawayo hasn’t really with the only notable development evident at Cowdray Park and Rangemore perhaps. Many Bulawayo residents who are desperate to build homes and have seen the boom in high density residential development in Harare were genuinely asking if Bulawayo City Council had not only run out of space but also of ideas on how to address the growing need for housing.

Admittedly, the government hasn’t been that active in Bulawayo, as it is in Harare South and Harare North, for instance, where housing co-operatives are coordinating the construction of thousands of houses. In Bulawayo it is mainly companies selling stands to individuals but because they buy as individuals, they tend to be more expensive than if they bought them as consortia.

We are however about to see a greater involvement of the government in making available residential stands for low-cost housing stands in Bulawayo. On Thursday, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Cde Saviour Kasukuwere officiated at the ground-breaking ceremony at Umvutshwa Village where the government is providing land for the construction of 7,000 houses for youths. In addition to the Umvutshwa project, another one is on the way on a 7,000 hectare block of land just outside Bulawayo and will accommodate a staggering 150,000 people.

Speaking at the event, Minister Kasukuwere stressed the commitment of the government to provide housing for the people, particularly the youth. The Umvutshwa housing project, he said, has already created jobs and will create more as the project and others grow.

“We’re fulfilling the promise we made to the people of Bulawayo and the direction we were given by President Mugabe to empower people and make sure that they have decent accommodation. The youths made a request to the leadership and we’re here to fulfill it.

“The process of expanding the housing delivery project starts next week and there’s no going back. Town planning is underway and Udcorp has done the topographical survey. Registration of the interested youths is also underway and offices have been opened in the city centre,” said Minister Kasukuwere.

On employment creation, he said:

“These homes will be built by the youths. This is how we will create jobs. The builders, carpenters, plumbers and engineers are already here. All we need is to start the project. We don’t want people from other provinces to come and do the work for us. We’re going to come up with a careful system that won’t allow other people to come and grab opportunities here.

“We know that most youths are not employed and they have no money. We have therefore come up with a payment plan where the youths will pay a small amount of money towards the construction of the houses.”

We commend the government for taking a lead in housing development in the city and look forward to more projects of that nature. The government has an economic blueprint, Zim-Asset under which it commits to the delivery of about 300,000 low-cost houses to the people by 2018, thus go some way in reducing the national housing backlog of about one million. Bulawayo’s backlog is around 100,000 housing units.

However, we regret that the MDC-led Bulawayo City Council is not doing much to contribute to the delivery of housing to residents and Minister Kasukuwere is unhappy about that. He invited the council to work with the government at Umvutshwa but Bulawayo Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, spurned the offer, apparently playing politics at the expense of addressing the people’s pressing needs.

“The council is worried about selling stands and making money,” said Cde Kasukuwere. “That’s why they are against this project. We will continue with this project and make sure that our youths have decent accommodation, electricity and clean water. We will also make sure that the beneficiaries have title deeds for their houses.

“As Zanu-PF we’re in the business of delivering not promising. We have also identified another town for the people of Bulawayo with 7,000 hectares of land. This will accommodate more than 150,000 people. Let’s use this programme to develop our economy.”

Bulawayo youths should indeed be happy that at long last they stand a chance of owning a house after so many years of waiting. But we know that future projects would not concentrate on youths alone, but every Bulawayo resident who needs a house and has the means to pay for it. The 150,000 units to come in the next phase after Umvutshwa is too big to benefit the youths only.

We implore the government to intensify the housing delivery drive and not be discouraged by oppositional councils that think politics is all there is to live for, not bread and butter as well.