Published by the government of Zimbabwe
11 November 2009
editorial
Harare — ON Monday, the Government banned the allocation of stands in unsuitable open spaces in all urban local authorities citing corruption, greed and abuse of authority by some councillors.
The ban also affects people allocated infill stands on unsuitable pieces of land such as over water and sewer reticulation, under power pylons and stream banks.
However, the Government says all those affected should approach their local authorities for compensation and re-allocation.
This is not the first time that the Government has promised to take action on houses built on unsuitable land.
In July the Government warned that all houses and commercial buildings constructed on wetlands faced demolition.
Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo cited Chitungwiza and Harare as the major culprits.
It is sad that almost all open spaces in the two municipalities which include playgrounds, car parks, recreational and arts centres have been allocated as residential stands.
While we sympathise with hundreds of people who were allocated residential stands on unsuitable pieces of land in our urban centres we also strongly feel that it should be the responsibility of the beneficiaries to assess the land on which they are allocated housing stands.
While everyone is quick to condemn the issuing councils -- it should be borne in mind that the beneficiaries have an equal responsibility to say no to an allocation they are not satisfied with.
Many of these unsuitable pieces of land were left undeveloped for ecological reasons. They are the natural habitats of flora and fauna. Small birds, frogs and reptiles flourish in these areas.
These greenbelts add colour to our urban environs and are in a way a tourist attraction.
Some of the land was reserved for future developments such as the dualisation of roads.
Take, for example, the houses that were built along the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Express -- there is no doubt that planners did a shoddy job which someone is going to pay for today.
Had the master plan that left space for the dualisation of the road been adhered to, the compensation costs would not be an issue today.
Our city planners should be astute people who do not act to please today and disappoint tomorrow.
Yes, Zimbabwe has thousands of people who are homeless. But that does not give local authorities the green light to congest people or allocate them stands on road reserves and wetlands.
People who were allocated stands in these areas have sunk their life savings into building a home without an established legal right to do so.
And sooner or later those houses have to go, destroying what must be the only asset that people possess.
It must be devastating for a family to see their home destroyed or being evicted, and being unable to do anything to stop it.
As we have reported before, the solutions to homelessness and a housing crisis is to have far more land available for building houses in properly designated areas, and find what the absolute minimum building standards need to be to ensure health and safety.
City fathers should not take the homeless for a ride.
Development needs to be properly guided by integrated spatial plans that are prepared following sound planning principles.
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