Zimbabwe News Update
newziana
2 min read
Bulawayo, (new ziana)- government has achieved 70 percent of its target to deliver one million housing units by 2025, a senior official has said. Chief director in the ministry of housing and social amenities, kudzai rimai, said this on wednesday during an infrastructural development stakeholders’ engagement meeting held in the country’s second-largest city. Other key initiatives also involve regularising informal settlements, developing social amenities such as water and sanitation infrastructure, and leveraging technology and new financing models to address the housing backlog and improve living standards. “i am sure you are aware that we are one of the 14 key pillars under nds1. As the housing delivery thematic working group, our target for nds1 was to achieve 220,000 housing units by 2025.
“this target was reviewed to one million housing units by the end of this year, following significant progress made halfway through nds1. I can say that, as of now, we are about 70 percent towards achieving the one million housing units target by 2025,” rimai said. She attributed the success to collaborative efforts between government and the private sector. “it’s a collaborative effort by government and the private sector. There has been quite significant progress,” she added. Rimai also highlighted the impact of the zimbabwe national human settlements policy (znhsp), which she said had led to a reduction in the growth of informal settlements.
The policy focuses on provision of adequate housing, social amenities, and infrastructure in both urban and rural areas by improving land access, spatial planning, and developing innovative financing models. “it is very key in that it gives policy direction that no human settlement or housing development should take place before land servicing. Pre-servicing of land is mandatory, and local authorities, land developers, and all players in the housing delivery sector must observe this before occupation. “this has helped reduce the growth of informal settlements. Most of the current projects now have proper servicing in terms of roads, sewer, and water,” rimai said.
She added that the ministry continues to work towards creating an enabling environment for players in the housing sector by identifying and addressing bottlenecks. Source: newziana
