ZANU-PF supporters of President Robert Mugabe in Mahusekwa, south-east of the Zimbabwe capital of Harare. National elections were held on Saturday, March 29, 2008., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Land developers hailed
Sunday, 14 April 2013 00:00
Tinashe Farawo
Zimbabwe Sunday Mail
For more than two decades, housing co-operatives have sprouted, seen as the solution to accommodation shortages, especially in major cities of Zimbabwe.
In the formative years, the associations were well managed and thousands of housing units were constructed to provide Zimbabweans with decent accommodation.
However, the concept has in the past been riddled with abuse of money by some members, prejudicing desperate home-seekers.
Several housing co-operative members have appeared in court on charges of converting funds to personal use, fraud and other related crimes.
Seeing a surge in criminal cases in housing co-operatives, Government is considering prioritising private land developers as the most reliable solution to providing stands and housing units.
The country has a housing backlog estimated at one million, with Harare topping the list at 500 000.
Private players have been actively developing land with big companies such as NicozDiamond Insurance Limited, Cabs, Allied Bank and Zimre Property Investment to the benefit of thousands of families countrywide.
On the back of this development, the Government says private property developers are the way to go if houses are to be availed to the people.
Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo said the Government will introduce a policy of giving land to private land developers ahead of housing co-operatives.
He was speaking in Gweru at the commissioning of more than 4 000 stands processed by a private land developer, River Valley Properties, under Hertfordshire Phase 1 and 2, that targets civil servants.
The property company also donated a house to President Mugabe as a token of appreciation for his empowerment of Zimbabweans.
“As a Government we are going to avail more land to private developers because they are delivering houses and stands to our people.
“This kind of development and commitment is what we want to see so that we deliver houses to the people,” he said.
Dr Chombo took a swipe at some housing co-operative members who were fleecing other desperate members of their contributions.
“Most of our co-operatives have failed to deliver accommodation to our desperate home-seekers. As Government we want to see that these private developers who are assisting us in fulfilling the Government’s national housing delivery programme are assisted,” he said.
Many people, especially in Harare, have fallen prey to bogus housing co-operatives and real estates.
The situation has particularly been worse at Caledonia Farm near Mabvuku and Hatcliffe.
The Government allocated Caledonia Farm to over 40 housing co-operatives for housing development to ease housing demand in the capital city.
But some of the co-operatives have been engaging in multiple stand allocation.
In some cases, housing co-operatives sell non-existent stands, prejudicing those seeking to construct decent accommodation.
River Valley Properties chief executive officer Smelly Dube hailed President Mugabe for empowering Zimbabweans with land, saying such projects would not be possible without the resource.
“As a property developer we are grateful to the President for availing land to us so that everyone has a place where they call home.
We are not going to disappoint on our mandate because this is the kind of empowerment our Government is talking about,” she said.
A beneficiary of the housing project, Garikai Muganu, hailed the property developers for affording him an opportunity to own a home.
“This is a dream come true. I never thought that I would own a stand in the low-density area.
“The project has come at the right time and I am now looking forward to start building my house,” he said.
The company’s finance director, Pastor Richard Chiwara, emphasised that the aim of the property company was to fulfil the wishes of the Government in providing houses to the people.
“We will continue to provide stands to our people and fulfil the Government’s national housing delivery programme as long as we will continue to get more land to develop,” he said.
Pastor Chiwara said the company’s efforts would help reduce the housing demand in the Midlands provincial capital, Gweru.
Last year, the Government availed about US$25 million in the 2013 national budget towards a national housing loan facility.
The money is being used to service residential stands throughout the country.
Accommodation problems have stalked major cities as a result of massive rural to urban migration as people seek employment opportunities.
The movement of people to the cities has caused a strain on the existing infrastructure such as ablution facilities, which in major areas continues to break down.
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