adminthe provision of decent housing to the people.
He was speaking in the House of Assembly on Wednesday while responding to questions from Kadoma legislator Editor Matamisa (MDC-T) on Government policy on the provision of affordable housing to the poor.
“The official national housing waiting list is over 1,2 million and throughout the world governments alone can never be able to provide housing needs,” said Minister Mutsekwa.
“Because we cannot do it alone, we have organisations like NSSA and Old Mutual who can assist and we are already having conversations with them. Banks should also assist, but at the moment they are not in a position to do so.”
Minister Mutsekwa described accommodation as a basic right just like health and education, so Government was treating it with priority.
He said as a policy, they had decided to set aside 20 percent of all houses built by Government for civil servants, including ministers and legislators.
The minister said his ministry was also looking at other cheaper means of construction like using timber, so that everyone had decent accommodation.
“We have also embarked on a process where we provide basic services like water and sewer, so that people can move in on their stands and can build temporary structures as they mobilise resources to build permanent structures,” said Minister Mutsekwa.
He said Government was also looking at building core houses for poor people, so that they can have somewhere to start from.
President Mugabe last week commissioned five blocks of flats at Willowvale in Highfield for civil servants.
The beneficiaries would be required to pay a deposit of US$3 600 and pay the remainder from the total cost of US$36 000 over 25 years.
Online Reporter