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Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs shows that shelter, together with air, food, drink, warmth, sex and sleep, are the most basic needs for a human being before any other needs.
In the modern world, it is the duty of local authorities to ensure that citizens have a place to stay and sleep. In Zimbabwe, provision of housing stands is the sole responsibility of urban councils or rural district councils.
The Government has, however, come in to assist through programmes such as Hlalani Kuhle and the pay-for-your-house scheme in a bid to provide accommodation to its citizens.
While private developers have also come in to support local authorities in the provision of shelter, in most cases their prices are beyond the reach of many hence citizens still expect to get affordable stands or houses from their local authorities. The ball therefore remains in the local authorities’ court to ensure that people are provided with accommodation at affordable prices. In fact, the more people a local authority has under its jurisdiction, the bigger the revenue base.
But most local authorities are struggling to meet the demand for shelter or land to develop houses. Some have even run out of land for housing development.
The Bulawayo City Council is sitting on a housing backlog of more than 100 000 people. We acknowledge efforts by city fathers to avail housing stands to residents, but appeal to the council to relax its conditions for selling housing stands. But we do no think it makes sense to make the stands available, then put in place stringent conditions for selling the stands. This will effectively drive away prospective home owners and their dreams of owning houses will remain just that. In fact, some end up being duped by fly-by-night land developers.
Yesterday we carried a story in which home seekers in Bulawayo are said to have been irked by the demands by council that they should pay a deposit of $4 200 for stands in the medium-density suburb of Emhlangeni and $2 700 for stands in Cowdray Park and Pumula South within three days or risk losing the stands.
Surely, this is a lot of money to raise in three days by any standards. We are talking here of an economy that is still struggling after years in the doldrums and most people therefore cannot raise that kind of money in a month. But they still need shelter.
Most companies in the city unfortunately cannot assist employees because they too are facing cashflow challenges. The problems bedevilling Bulawayo industries have been well-documented.
The Bulawayo City Council must therefore listen to the concerns of home seekers and relax their conditions for selling housing stands. We want to believe the BCC is a people-centred council which takes on board views and concerns of the people. We are glad the mayor, Councillor Thaba Moyo, has taken a keen interest in the matter and wants practical solutions.
The council must not operate like a private developer whose main motive is making a profit at whatever cost. There is therefore a need for a win-win solution to the housing crisis in the city which does not prejudice council and at the same time enables people to get affordable stands.
Online Reporter