The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
Government must not parcel out land for residential stands but instead build high rise apartments as noted by President Mugabe, experts have said. Urban and Rural Planning experts who spoke to The Sunday Mail yesterday said high rise apartments were cheaper to construct and service as compared to developing stands for individual houses.
President Mugabe on Friday told thousands of people at the first Presidential Youth Interface Rally in Marondera that he did not support current practices by the Local Government Ministry that focus on setting aide vast tracts of land for allocation as stands.
This has seen the emergence of sprawling settlements around cities and towns without development of attendant infrastructure and provision of services.
The dishing out of stands has also eaten into arable land, while disputes over ownership of the properties have become the order of the day.
University of Zimbabwe lecturer in the Department of Rural and Urban Planning Mr Nyasha Mutsindikwa backed President Mugabe’s paradigm redefinition in housing provision.
“There is need for Government to seriously consider this type of housing (high rise apartments) as a small piece of land can accommodate many people,” he said. “They are cheap to maintain and cheap to provide services for. High rise apartments are the way to go in the modern age that we are living in.”
Mr Mutsindikwa also said there was need for some farms to be downsized. Urban planning expert Mr Percy Toriro weighed in saying: “Zimbabweans have been treating land as an infinite resource and we treat it as if it will never run out. High rise apartments will save land and will also bring down the cost of housing delivery.” On Friday, President Mugabe said: “Land in urban areas is inadequate for us to parcel out to you. We want to have a programme where we build apartments.
Ndakanzwa mukuru wenyu achiti makatemerwa naVaKasukuwere kuManyame uko uko. Ndinonyunyuta nenyaya yacho nekuti tikaramba tichidaro hapana kwatinosvika. You are wedding and having children and your children will in turn have their own kids. If we give stands, it is all the land that will be going and will the future generation get the stands?” Government set a target of delivering 313 368 housing units/serviced stands between 2013 and 2018; and introduced a home ownership scheme in 2015 with apartment units earmarked for Tafara, Dzivaresekwa and Prospect in Harare.
The scheme also offers stands in areas like Hunyani/Manyame, Chishawasha, Norton, and Umvutcha near Bulawayo.
