adminMolline Gagare Business Reporter
THE Clothing Industry Workers’ Union has acquired 5,988 hectares of land earmarked for low cost housing for its members in Upper Rangemore on the outskirts of Bulawayo.
The union, which is affiliated to the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU), bought the piece of land from Umguza Rural District Council in Upper Rangemore and its first phase would cover about 200 stands in the next few months.
Union chairperson Tendai Rimawu told Business Chronicle that the organisation took the initiative after considering the plight of workers in the sector, whom he said were poorly paid.
“Workers in the clothing industry are the least paid in this country. If a grade two machinist is earning $132, how do you expect them to afford to buy a house and look after their families with such a paltry salary?” said Rimawu.
“We came together and raised funds to buy this piece of land because we couldn’t do it single-handedly. President Robert Mugabe is always emphasising on the importance of self help projects and that’s what we’ve accomplished today.”
The union leaders met about 100 workers from the clothing industry at the site on Sunday morning at an unveiling event. They were shown the letters from Umguza Rural District Council, authenticating the sale of the land to the union.
The leaders, however, declined to disclose the cost of the land and how many stands they were targetting.
The organisation’s secretary Prince Nyoni said the event was meant to show the prospective stand owners the title deeds in the name of the organisation and also to explain the development concept plan, which includes the sewer system, layout of the land and linking of roads to the main road.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter