‘Housing development creating more jobs’
GOVERNMENT says the massive housing development projects being undertaken in selected parts of the country by financial institutions and other service providers are creating more job opportunities and feeding into the national vision of building 220 000 housing units by 2025.
Speaking in Bulawayo on Friday during the unveiling of 90 fully serviced stands at Hopelyn Housing Estate near Mahatshula suburb, Housing and Social Amenities Minister, Daniel Garwe, said the housing sector is pivotal to employment creation.
Hopelyn Housing Estate
The Hopelyn project is part of the US$11 million national housing scheme that will result in the construction of thousands of low-cost housing units in selected parts of the country.
Financial services institution, BancABC, is implementing the project being funded by Shelter Afrique, which will benefit home seekers from Bulawayo, Harare, Gweru, Masvingo and Mutare.
Shelter Afrique is a Pan-African banking institution that exclusively supports the development of affordable housing and real estate sector development in Africa.
“There is an issue of un-employment and the housing sector is a key pillar in contributing towards creating jobs.
More people will be absorbed in the construction process as we seek to move away from single units to flats,” said Minister Garwe.
“In that way, we will create more employment including in the downstream industries. We are winning on that.”
He said it was critical for the country to fully exploit its vertical space by constructing flats as opposed to seeking more land for horizontal housing expansion.
“We don’t want to eat into agriculture land by building horizontal houses and if we continue doing so, 20 years from now we will be a net importer of food as we would have run out of cropping land,” said Minister Garwe.
In order to preserve land, he said it is now mandatory to set aside 40 percent of housing construction projects for flats, a key point under the human settlement policy. Minister Garwe said there is a need to change mindsets and adopt flats concept, which is a current global phenomenon, adding that local authorities are adhering to that directive.
With properly planned settlements, he said local authorities are the major beneficiaries at they would be able to bill and correct rates in an orderly manner. “It’s criminal for local authorities to allow people to build on unserviced land as that creates challenges, which are difficult to solve. We must first provide water, sewer and even Wi-Fi as it is a key service,” said the minister.
“We must utilise our vertical spaces, which are empty at the moment. That would help the country in employing new housing construction technology.
“That would cut construction costs and time by 50 percent and that would see us achieving the National Development Strategy of having additional 220 000 housing units by 2025.”
By employing new construction technology, Minister Garwe said it was possible to build 100 blocks of flats, which comprise four floors in a month.
“We have engaged construction specialists from all over the world and we floated tenders, which have been approved by PRAZ.
By November we will witness flats being built using new technology,” he noted.
The Bulawayo project comes at a time when the city is battling to reduce the housing waiting list and such private sector input goes a long way in easing demand for shelter.
National Development Strategy 1
As part of the National Development Strategy 1 in the housing cluster, the minister said by 2025, a total of 220 000 housing units would have been built countrywide to reduce the estimated 1,5 million housing backlog.
This goal will only be achieved through the use of modern building technology in housing delivery, which demands amendment of existing by-laws.-The Chronicle
