Story by Tafara Chikumira
Government’s Public and Private Partnerships (PPPs) continue to bear fruit, with land developers in the Midlands province complementing Second Republic efforts to reduce the housing backlog.
It emerged during the tour of the various projects by Sheasham land developers that the investment firm has managed to help reduce the housing backlog in the City of Gweru through provision of serviced land in conformity with government requirements.
“I am very happy that at the age of 26, I have managed to find a legitimate place to construct my house. I am very happy that the developer has put in place the necessary infrastructure like roads and sewer to pave way for us to start the necessary developments,” said a Gweru resident.
Another said, “I must say that I am very happy that I now have a stand of my own at my age. I am about to go for retirement and I have been having problems with previous schemes where I was made to pay and lost my money with nothing tangible coming out. However, I must say now I can go to retirement a happy man as I will be starting to put my retirement to good use.”
The land developer says he is driven by the Second Republic’s ‘Zimbabwe Is Open For Business’ mantra, pledging more support for the country’s developmental trajectory.
“We are proud to play a small part in ensuring that we make a contribution towards the President’s thrust of ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo’ mantra. We are proud to say we are spreading our wings across the country. We also help in the construction of roads. It gives us great pleasure to be part of this development,” said Sheasham Investments’s managing director, Mr Clever Mandaza.
Government noted the need for land developers to complement government housing efforts, through adhering to the country’s laws.
“I urge other land developers in the province to emulate the sterling work being done by Sheasham in the country. The era of land barons where unsuspecting home seekers were duped of their hard-earned cash is over. It is illegal to acquire land and start parcelling it before putting appropriate basic infrastructure that includes roads, water. All those found flouting these regulations will face the full wrath of the law without fear or favour,” said Midlands Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Honourable Owen Ncube.
Government is on a housing construction drive through harnessing PPPs to help reduce the national housing backlog which stands at around 1.5 million units.
