admin
Zvamaida Murwira Harare Bureau
BULAWAYO mayor Martin Moyo is “not serious” and out of touch with the housing needs of the city’s residents, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said yesterday.
The minister said he would be visiting Bulawayo shortly to inspect 300 hectares of land which has been identified for the construction of 20,000 residential houses for the city’s youths.
The government, Kasukuwere insisted, would not accept the BCC’s apparent refusal to service stands at the site.
“We’ll visit Bulawayo very soon, to inspect the land that has been made available and monitor the progress that the Minister of State in the province Cde Nomthandazo Moyo has made to date with regards to the land we’ve set aside for the young people,” the minister said.
“The same will be done in Harare and other areas. We’ve to make land available to people for them to build and own homes.”
Mayor Moyo last week claimed the city’s 100,000 backlog was “not a crisis”.
“I believe as a local authority we’re already on a positive in terms of availing stands to our residents. Our housing backlog is just over 100,000, and this isn’t a crisis figure, considering that according to the ZimStat census, we’re just above 600,000 in terms of population. I doubt whether there’s a need to panic,” said the mayor, apparently resisting to move at the pace set by the minister to process the housing stands.
Kasukuwere said the government had to intervene in the provision of housing in the City of Kings after realising that the MDC-T run council was failing to avail land for that purpose, but were instead allocating themselves huge tracts of land.
Councillors, he said, were parcelling out council land to land barons and to themselves, at the expense of ordinary people.
“I’m surprised that the mayor of Bulawayo said we don’t need more land. I thought he wasn’t being serious. The policy of the government is that if we can, let’s provide shelter and housing to all our people. But to boast and say we’ve a 100,000 housing waiting list but it’s not an issue, I think it sends a message of a mayor who isn’t serious about the expectations of the majority,” Kasukuwere said.
“As government, we’re emphasising the need to house all our people. We need to eliminate the challenge facing our people, which is of lodging where they get abused.”
Minister Kasukuwere said it was imperative that people own houses consistent with the government’s economic blueprint, Zim-Asset.
He added: “They (BCC) have failed to build houses, and we’ve to intervene as the State. What do we do? They were allocating land to land barons, with chaos all over the city.
“Right now, there are serious cases of corruption involving almost all the city’s councillors.”
Online Reporter