Housing headaches haunt Zim

12 Oct, 2014 - 09:10 0 Views
Housing headaches haunt Zim

The Sunday Mail

Edwin Mwase and Vimbai Chabata

1010-2-1-DEMOLITIONS IN CHITOWN TEASERThe housing backlog in Zimbabwe has led to concerted efforts from all stakeholders involved to introduce a cocktail of measures to remedy the situation.

However, some of these measures have proved to be immediately devastating and detrimental to the intended beneficiaries.

With the country’s housing backlog estimated at a staggering 1,3 million units from an estimated 200 000 at Independence in 1980, Zimbabwe is yet to find the right mix of factors to decisively deal with accommodation woes.

In the absence of a clear solution, bogus housing schemes and property developers have cashed in, leaving many people counting their losses.

Some top officials within city councils and town boards have also taken advantage of the predicament of home seekers and allocated stands to them illegally.

At the end of the day, a few unscrupulous dealers are arrested – while ordinary people lose everything they have when authorities move in to demolish illegal structures.

As is happening right now.

Recently, the Chitungwiza City Council and the Epworth Local Board swooped on settlements constructed on prohibited land such as wetlands and pulled down the structures, leaving hundreds of people homeless. However, looking specifically at Epworth, what boggles the mind of many is that some of the housing structures that were pulled down were constructed right on weird places such as river banks and on the Jacha river itself, leaving one to wonder how authorities allowed such settlements to flourish in the first place.

Epworth Local Board chair Mr Tafireyi Murambidzi accused land barons in Epworth of being behind the fiasco which led to homeseekers being allocated land illegally.

“Many land barons in Epworth have become a law unto themselves, parcelling out land wherever they deem necessary. As the local board, laws regarding the allocation of land are not clear on who should be responsible for parcelling out residential land,” he said.

Mr Murambidzi said the land barons have taken advantage of this missing link in the local board by-laws to settle scores of people around Epworth.

He said people whose properties were demolished would neither be compensated nor be considered for relocation.

“There is no need to compensate them as what they initially did constitutes a crime. These are people who own multiple stands in Epworth,” he declared.

However, Mr Murambidzi said the council had applied for land at two farms adjacent to Epworth and measuring up to 300 hectares, where they expect to resettle thousands of people.

With the onset of the rainy season, many victims believe that the responsible authorities should have at least sought alternative accommodation elsewhere before embarking on destruction of houses.

And a health time bomb is ticking.

“The demolitions of our houses should also be made with the same impetus of providing alternative accommodation as some of us genuinely got these stands from powerful people in the council,” said a demolition victim who declined to be named. The woman said the chairman of the local board had himself allocated a number of stands on undesignated land and pocketed the proceeds.Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Permanent Secretary Engineer George Mlilo recently said his minister, Dr Ignatius Chombo had communicated with council executives giving them the greenlight to proceed with the demolitions.

Speaking to The Sunday Mail recently, Eng Mlilo said: “The demolitions are going ahead, though not everyone is going to be affected. They will affect those who have put up structures on undesignated. Local authorities will regularise houses that are not under electricity pylons, sewer lines and wetlands.

“That is the Government position regarding illegal structures; we want to come up with properly-planned structures.”

Town and urban planner Mr Tom Havatyi said it was imperative that authorities address the root problem, rather than resorting to demolitions time and again. “Although illegal settlements have become a nuisance, an accommodative approach needs to be done, considering the plight the populace had to go through every time the demolitions are effected,” he said.

Mr Havatyi said Government should research and understand the issues on the ground and their solutions. First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe has spoken out against wanton demolitions.

While warning people against allocating themselves stands, she said demolitions should be effected only when alternative accommodation had been provided.

Government inherited a flawed housing system in 1980, as prior to this blacks were discouraged from settling in urban areas.

Thus post-Independence, there was great rural-urban migration put a strain on local authorities, and led to the rise of illegal settlements and shanty towns.

To rid the country of illegal settlements and also flush out criminal elements that had found a safe haven in these places, Government launched clean-up campaigns in 1991, 1993, 1995, 2005, 2013 and this year.

Demolition of illegal structures is not peculiar to Zimbabwe: countries like South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria have carried out similar operations.

Government plans to accelerate proper housing development through public-private partnerships, and targets to construct 125 000 units by 2018 under Zim-Asset.

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