Row over church building

Daniel Nemukuyu Senior Reporter
THE construction of a massive church structure by New Life Covenant along Boundary Road, Newlands in Harare, hangs in the balance after residents contested its legality.

Newlands Residents’ Association and the Harare Wetlands Trust have filed a High Court application seeking to block the construction saying the structures were being built on a wetland and that the church had not complied with the stipulated conditions.

New Life Covenant, City of Harare, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Environmental Management Agency, Minister of Environment, Tourism and Hospitality and Upper Manyame Catchment Council were listed as respondents in the application.

The applicants want the High Court to issue an order stopping the work and directing the removal of all the construction machinery on site.

It is argued that the church did not obtain the requisite permits for the development of the property in terms of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act and Section 46(2) of the Water Act.

Government in 2016 partially allowed the church to construct the structures on the site on condition that the structures only covered land of up to 0,8 hectares.

However, the residents argue that the church exceeded the 0,8ha limit in violation of the ministerial directive and they now want the church to stop the construction.

Through the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Harare Wetlands Trust programmes manager Mr Selestino Chari deposed an affidavit laying out the basis for opposing the construction of the church building.

Mr Chari said the stand falls under an area declared to be a wetland and the church should comply with the stipulated pre-conditions to lawfully erect structures.

He argued that constructing a church on the wetland was detrimental to the environment.

“The development on Boundary Road wetland will result in a wide range of detrimental impacts and irreparable harm to the environment, many of which cannot be mitigated.

“There will be permanent loss of associated ecosystem services in terms of water delivery, purification and contribution to groundwater recharge. It also results in modification of the existing landform and pattern of the drainage.”

Water pollution and reduction in water supply are also problems associated with the construction work on the wetland.

New Life Covenant is yet to respond to the application.