adminFarirai Machivenyika Senior Reporter
Chegutu West legislator Cde Dexter Nduna has engaged the National Social Security Authority (NSSA), through the National Building Society (NBS), to set up a housing scheme targeting informal traders in the town. Under the envisaged scheme, the informal traders are being urged to open accounts with the NBS, which is wholly owned by NSSA, in which they will deposit $1 per day towards servicing of the residential stands.
Thousands of people registered for the scheme by opening accounts with the building society on the sidelines of an outreach programme conducted by NSSA on Saturday, where people received free medical treatment as part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility.
“The NBS has been brought by NSSA to be in partnership with people of Chegutu to receive money on a $1 per day basis so that they can use the land we have identified to give people for residential stands,” said Cde Nduna on Saturday.
“We are targeting 10 000 people and if they can contribute a $1 per day, we believe by the end of the year we would have raised enough to go towards servicing of the stands and also start construction of the houses,” he said.
He said they had 500 hectares on Risborough Farm, owned by the Chegutu Municipality, set aside for residential stands.
“We have a serious housing backlog in the Chegutu and this scheme offers hope to people who ordinarily would not have an opportunity to build their own houses,” he added.
The NBS was created in 2014 and opened its doors to the public in 2016, with the aim of providing accommodation to low-income earners and those in the informal sector. NSSA has embarked on a programme to market its services, including its new scheme targeting people working in the informal sector.
The scheme is called the Voluntary Small-and-Medium Enterprises and Informal Sector Scheme and aims to benefit people who have been excluded under traditional pension schemes and the banking sector.
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