Published by the government of Zimbabwe
3 October 2008
Harare — HARARE City Council has resolved to continue talking to the National Railways of Zimbabwe so it can take over Rugare Community Hall, adjoining sports grounds and undeveloped residential and commercial stands in the railways suburb.
The takeover of the remaining facilities would complete the transfer of the whole Rugare to the city.
Council took over management of Rugare, which was established in 1925, in 1980 when it was abolished as a special township and incorporated into the city's administration.
"We resolved that the City of Harare continues with negotiations to take over Rugare Community Hall, adjoining grounds, including the stadium, and undeveloped stands," reads part of recent full council minutes.
The township has over 1 000 houses.
Under the agreement between the two parties, Rugare was to be subdivided to facilitate transfer of title to residents and to enable the city to rate and bill individual property owners.
Previously the city bulk-billed the NRZ as occupants were exclusively railways employees allocated housing by the parastatal.
In 1992 the NRZ was given permission to subdivide the township, but a dispute arose after the city refused to issue a certificate of compliance because certain aspects of the deal had not been complied with.
The matter was subsequently settled out of court after the NRZ had agreed to pay $3,5 million in full which was due to council before it could be issued with a certificate of compliance.
The city was to administer the roads and parking areas after the NRZ had completed construction work.
An agreement to withdraw the matter from the courts was also reached with each party meeting its own costs.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Herald. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
