Zimpapers Logo

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
Government has entered into a partnership with private players in its quest to build at least two million housing units by the year 2030 and already one of the major players BancABC has secured US$10 million from a pan African bank to fund housing projects nationwide.

Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities Daniel Garwe, who toured outstanding housing projects in Beitbridge yesterday, said currently the country has a housing backlog of 1,3 million.

He said under the envisaged mass housing initiative, they will build 200 000 housing units for Government workers by the year 2023.

“We shall continue to lobby for private sector participation in the servicing of stands, and construction of housing across the country. To that end, we have since tendered for the construction of high-rise apartments in most urban centres and the sanitisation of informal settlements,” said Minister Garwe.

He said feasibility studies will be done in informal settlements to ascertain the practicability of the sanitisation/regularisation initiative.

Minister Garwe said already, Treasury had availed $600 million for the completion of 28 F14 houses and 16 garden flats to house 40 families in Beitbridge, which was running separately from the Mass Housing initiative.

He said these were built under the Beitbridge Redevelopment initiative which started in 2004, but completion had been stalled by a multiplicity of factors.

“We have entered into an agreement with an investor in the form of BancABC, which will build thousands of houses nationwide and they have since secured US$10 million from a Pan African bank for this initiative.

“Under that programme, we are going to build at least 400 housing units in Beitbridge to address accommodation deficiencies for the frontline workers. Of these, 40 percent will be high-rise buildings in line with our urban densification policy,” said Minister Garwe.

He said accommodation problems have become perennial in Beitbridge and hence the New Dispensation was committed to delivering.

The Minister said to achieve the mass housing scheme, Government was adopting new building technologies rather than relying on the traditional brick and mortar method.

Minister Garwe said they would employ a number of methods among them the concrete-based initiative rather than confining themselves to one idea.

“We are embracing the new thinking. As a Government, we are calling all those with new construction models to approach the Ministry.

We will interrogate the proposals and if they are feasible, we will approve, so that they start working immediately,” said the Minister.

He said Government was also incensed with the fact that there were people invading unfinished houses in Beitbridge at night.

Minister Garwe said such behaviour was not different from that of land and space invaders and that the long arm of the law will deal ruthlessly with such characters.

The Minister of State in the Vice President’s office, Davies Marapira said the Beitbridge project is strategically located along the major highway, right at the gateway into the country for those coming in from South Africa.

“I need to mention that the development had become an eyesore, due to its stalled nature and the state of neglect by the Old Dispensation.

“The President has always been talking of doing things differently, this includes the prioritisation of stalled projects before embarking on new ones,” said Minister Marapira. — @tupeyo