Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere yesterday appointed the new Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) board chaired by Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Thomas Zondo Sakala.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Other board members include University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Audrey Kwangwama, Harare Institute of Technology vice-chancellor, Quinton Kanhukamwe, former BancABC group managing director, Hashmon Matemera, Local Government ministry director, Nyasha Priscilla Mudzinge, architect, Nyarai Gutu and Environmental Management Agency director-general, Dorothy Chasi.
Kasukuwere said Udcorp had three main functions, which include urban development, with emphasis on housing provision in a manner that creates sustainable urban settlement, provision of audit services and training of local authorities.
He said more than 1,5 million people were on the housing waiting list nationally, while only 33,3% of the urban population owned their accommodation with 43,25% classified as lodgers.
Kasukuwere said local authorities were failing to effectively manage their land banks and very little work had been done to upgrade off-site infrastructure to deal with the increasing urban population, resulting in water shortages and poor disposal of raw sewage.
“The only solution is to completely revisit the current methods of housing delivery so as to facilitate mass housing development by home seekers by providing suitable, affordable, serviced stands for low and medium housing development,” he said.
Other solutions, Kasukuwere said, included expanding and constructing the new off-site infrastructure to accommodate additional housing units, densification of urban areas to halt sprawl and to maximise space use and urban renewal ad beautification.
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He said housing development was currently the most corruption-prone area of development in Zimbabwe and urged Udcorp to be transparent.
“It can no longer be business as usual. I want thinking that is both out of the box, or if the situation demands, throws the box away. We need new designs, technology and building materials to make housing more accessible, more affordable and more appropriate to the demands and pockets of homeseekers.”
