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Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has taken a swipe at rural district councils for tapping into land meant for urban expansion urging them to direct their energies towards building towns designated to be rural service centres, district service centres and growth points.

Minister Kasukuwere said RDC’s were cashing in on acquiring peri-urban agricultural properties and developing them into urban housing schemes.

“Unfortunately, our urban settlements, particularly the cities, are facing serious challenges of failure to expand outward because rural district councils have found a new cash cow in acquiring peri-urban agricultural properties and developing the same into urban housing.

“There is a limit to which densification can contain the need by existing towns and cities to grow outward. The ministry’s view is that local authorities should be assisted to see their role in development within the context of the hierarchy of settlements policy, which was long defined in the ‘80s to promote growth in rural areas,” he said.

He said by promoting growth in rural service centres and district service centres, rural-urban migration would be slowed down, and towns and cities would be able to cope with the rate of growth.

RDCs, he said, should be discouraged from seeking refuge around existing cities and concentrate on developing areas within their respective areas of jurisdiction if the country’s thrust on urbanisation is to yield significant results.

“The urban expansion programme needs the support of bulk or offsite infrastructure without which the Zim-Asset targets in national housing delivery and economic growth may be a far cry.

“Water supplies need more dam construction and water purification augmentation and sewerage facilities in big towns and cites have reached maximum capacity, and need augmentation to service additional development,” he said.

Over and above the housing delivery drive, he said, the ministry has other construction projects across the country required to promote Government operations.

Minister Kasukuwere said progress is minimal because of limited funding from treasury.Last year, Government handed over Caledonia to City of Harare from Goromonzi Rural District Council after realising that the RDC has no capacity to manage it.

Caledonia residents were duped of millions by land barons who allocated residential stands in the area, which has 23 000 stands.Home seekers were also duped in Seke, Domboshawa and Goromonzi.