Kadoma Town Council plans to demolish most houses in Rimuka suburb’s SQGB section, leaving scores of families in the populous location homeless.
Council has announced plans to demolish most old structures in the suburb to pave way for construction of modern structures early next year.
In an interview with NewsDay this week, Kadoma mayor Peter Matambo said the project was a priority as the squalid living conditions in the area engendered fertile breeding ground for disease outbreaks such as cholera.
“The answer to the state of buildings and hygiene conditions in the SQGB section would be the demolition of some of the existing structures and construction of new houses which conform to urban standards,” said Matambo.
Most residents of the area are former David Whitehead Textiles (DWT) employees and victims of the infamous 2005 Operation Murambatsvina/Clean-Up.
A distraught resident, Christopher Wangayi, a former DWT factory shop cashier, who is living with his extended family in the small cubicles measuring two-by-two metres in size, said:
“The council must consider that most people here have nowhere else to go. We are more or less squatters and demolishing the houses would compound our situation”.
“While some have rural homes to which they can relocate, the decision to move should be voluntary and not forced upon them,” said Wangayi, who shares the tiny room with his family including his son now at university.
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The family pays $21 rent for the single room. Wangayi, just like many of his contemporaries, has lived in the area since the country’s independence in 1980.
“The structures are old and rundown. “Sewer pipe bursts at the communal toilets and bathing rooms are prevalent as the system can no longer support the overcrowded accommodation,” said the mayor.
The quarters were originally designed for single people, but are now home to large families, putting a heavy strain on the ageing water and sewer reticulation system.
