Zim blitz officially over
2005-07-28 13:55
Harare - A demolitions campaign in Zimbabwe's shantytowns that has left hundreds of thousands homeless and destitute is now officially over, the vice-president was quoted as saying on Thursday.
"We embarked on this national programme to fight squalor and poverty and it was done in the interest of our nation and people," vice-president Joyce Mujuru was quoted by the state-run Herald newspaper as saying.
"The operation is now complete. We have achieved what we intended," said Mujuru at an awards ceremony for farmers in Nyabira, 35km west of Harare.
The United Nations on Friday called on Zimbabwe to halt the demolitions, saying it had left 700 000 Zimbabweans homeless and disrupted the lives of a further 2.4 million people.
Clean-up campaign in final phase
Zimbabwean authorities launched the double-pronged "Operation Drive Out Filth" and "Operation Restore Order" in mid-May, razing shacks and markets stalls as part of what it described as an urban renewal campaign.
But the opposition denounced the drive as a campaign of repression, while Western governments harshly condemned the blitz.
Mujuru said Zimbabwe had embarked on the "final phase" of the campaign with Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, which means Live in Comfort designed to build new housing and appealed for international assistance.
"I appeal to the international community to stop stone-throwing but to join us in this noble effort to promote the good of our people.
"In this regard we welcome any help we can get from the international community including the UN with which we co-operate in so many other humanitarian endeavours," said Mujuru who was speaking as President Robert Mugabe was on a state visit to China.