Inflation blow for Zim housing

2005-11-01 12:56

Harare - Efforts to construct houses for the hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans displaced by an urban clean-up campaign are being hampered by rising costs and delayed government funding, the state-run Herald newspaper said on Tuesday.

President Robert Mugabe's government announced an ambitious programme to provide a million new houses by 2008, following a countrywide campaign of shack demolitions in May and June that left up to 800 000 people homeless.

But construction is said to be progressing at a very slow pace, with critics saying the cash-strapped authorities simply cannot afford a housing programme on this scale.

A group of legislators last week toured housing sites at Whitecliff and Hopley farms in Harare where they were briefed "on the challenges being faced", the Herald said.

"It was noted that the increase in prices of building materials due to the current hyperinflation and erratic supply of cement were some of the major challenges encountered," the paper said.

Zimbabwe's inflation rate is currently around 360%, one of the highest in the world. It is predicted to rise to at least 400% by the end of the year.

At Hopley Farm, 924 plots for houses have been pegged but only 139 houses have been roofed so far, the Herald said.

The report comes a day after United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was "dismayed" at the Zimbabwe government's refusal to accept offers of UN assistance for those made homeless by the demolitions.

"In an official communication, the minister of local government, public works and urban development stated that there is no longer a compelling need to provide temporary shelter as there is no humanitarian crisis," Annan said in a statement.

He said the minister's claim "directly contradicts" recent reports from the UN and aid organisations in Zimbabwe.

"There is no clear evidence that subsequent government efforts have significantly benefited these (vulnerable) groups," Annan added.

The independent Standard newspaper last week claimed that a list of beneficiaries of new houses in the central town of Masvingo was withdrawn after it was revealed that they were mostly senior civil servants and members of the armed forces. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA