By Meditation Mposi
Masvingo City Council’s housing waiting list has ballooned to 3 355 applicants who are anxiously waiting for land allocation. The waiting list rose from 3 072 in April to 3 355 in June, an increase of 283 people within a space of 3 months.
Speaking at a full council meeting held at the townhouse on recently, ward 9 councilor Bernard Muchokwa said council has been collecting money from residents on the waiting list for years without giving them stands.
“The current waiting list stands at 3 355 applications; council has been selling lodgers’ cards to unsuspecting residents for a plethora of years without selling any stands. Chairman of housing please tell this house when are you planning on selling the next batch of stands, if you are not sure why must council continue selling lodger’s cards. Residents are not registered for free yet Rujeko D is still very far from being completed,” said Muchokwa.
Masvingo Town Clerk Engineer Edward Mukaratirwa said council was not milking residents’ of their money and said the waiting list was important as it guides accordingly on the demand for stands in the city.
“There is nothing amiss about council getting people to register their interests to have stands even when there are no stands available. That is just an expression of interest and no one is forced to be on the waiting list. It guides us in terms of planning, We need to get guidance on how many people would have expressed interest on buying stands so in the absence of a waiting list we cannot have guidance on the numbers of people who require the stands so I find nothing amiss about having a waiting list,” said Engineer Mukaratirwa.
Speaking in an interview with this publication over the matter, Masvingo City Mayor and ward four councilor Alec Tabe said council had plans to service Rujeko D and part of Runyararo West stands, a development that could decrease the number of people on the waiting list.
“We have a plan to service Rujeko D stands and part of Runyararo West stands then if we are able to complete the projects we will be able to reduce the number of people on council’s waiting list,” said Tabe.
He went on to say the local authority had since reduced the lodgers cards prices from US$20 to US$7. According to Council’s First Quarter Budget Performance Review, the local authority has budgeted US$2 million for servicing of the Rujeko D stands.
