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On Wednesday, councillors turned down a proposal by NSSA to develop 882 housing stands and build at least 100 houses in Luveve 5 suburb.
The main reason given by councillors was that NSSA had been allocated 700 stands to develop in Pumula South and they failed to do so until council repossessed the stands.
The development comes at a time when council is grappling with a housing waiting list that has ballooned to about 100 000.
In a statement yesterday, NSSA’s public relations consultant, Mr Mike Hamilton, said the authority’s offer to service stands and build houses in Bulawayo was intended to help in the provision of housing for residents.
“NSSA has many options for the investment of contributors’ funds. When it chooses to invest in housing projects it is primarily for the benefit of those in need of housing,” said Mr Hamilton.
He said Bulawayo City Council was free to either accept or reject the offer.
“It is true that NSSA failed to develop residential stands within the given time in 2006 due to the prevailing hyperinflation at the time,” said Mr Hamilton.
Commenting on the same issue, the Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura)’s chairperson Mr Winos Dube, said residents were tired of stories as all they needed were houses.
“While we respect councillors as custodians of residents’ well-being, we must point out that council has failed to work on its own to provide houses for residents. Private developers on the other hand have always been in it for the money, selling shoddy structures, sometimes to more than one person at very high prices,” said Mr Dube.
He said the finger-pointing game and name-calling should come to an end because residents were the ones who suffered the consequences.
“I think history has shown that these two groups cannot work independently. They need to form partnerships so that they can monitor each other, with council benefiting from the financial muscle of private developers and private developers gaining from council’s expertise, so that at the end of the day, the ratepayer benefits,” said Mr Dube.
“Council has to maintain its credibility with residents so that they do not hesitate to pay their bills. I think this can be achieved through coming up with a housing policy whose fruits can be seen and enjoyed by everyone. I believe this can be achieved through partnerships with private developers.”
Mr Dube said council’s policy of pre-selling stands was benefiting the rich.
“The idea may have been a noble one to begin with, but only those with money are benefiting in a city where the majority are not formally employed,” he said.
“We have people who paid $2 000 deposits in Mahatshula and were promised serviced stands by the council within a month. They have been waiting for seven months now,” he said.
A comment could not be obtained from the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), which is widely believed to be aligned to the MDC-T.
The association’s projects coordinator, Mr Roderick Fayayo, declined to comment, saying he was on the road, from Harare. He referred questions to programme advocacy manager, Mr Emanuel Ndlovu.
Mr Ndlovu could not be reached on his mobile phone.
Online Reporter