ZimbabweMassive Housing Project to Deliver 2200 Houses
The Second Republic's thrust to eradicate poverty and protect citizens against scammers, through provision of affordable housing, is on course, as a massive 2200 housing project takes shape in Norton. Government is ticking all the right boxes towards an upper middle income status as enshrined in national Vision 2030, and envisioned in the recently launched Zimbabwe National Human Settlements Policy. The human settlements policy is aimed at informing the implementation of relevant facets of Agenda 2030's Sustainable Development Goals, Vision 2030 and national and international pliability frameworks. This will in turn massively contribute to overall economic growth in line with National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1) -- a five-year economic blueprint that runs from 2021-2025 -- launched by President Mnangagwa in November last year. A successor to the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP), the NDS 1, is key to the achievement of Vision 2030, and seeks to streamline gender, youth, women and other vulnerable groups, hence creating equal opportunities for all citizens in an economically stable environment. High rise flats, as envisaged in the policy, are the way to go, although in some cases they may be costly as compared to building low-cost 50-square-metre houses on 200 or 250 square metre lots, considered socially acceptable. To that end, the Second Republic under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa has set a target of 220 000 houses and flats by 2025, with hundreds of houses having been completed in Norton. Thousands of other houses and flats are at different stages of construction across the country. The policy will, among other issues, provide for disaster risk assessments, environmental impact mitigation, and climate change implications into rural and urban settlement planning, development and management. Recognising that housing is a basic human right, the settlements policy opens up opportunities for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the construction sector. Shelter Afrique, a Pan-African bank, has come on board with a US$65 million facility to fund housing through building societies and the Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp). Under the partnership, hundreds of the 2200 houses under construction in KockMallock Estate in Norton, are now complete.
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