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Acting Chief Zimunya leads the Sakubva Renewal Project ground-breaking ceremony last Friday, while Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs Mandi Chimene and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere look on

Abel Zhakata Mutare Bureau
Government has injected $2 million seed capital to kick start the urban renewal project in Mutare, which is set to provide decent accommodation to Sakubva high-density suburb residents.

Officially launching the project at Sakubva Beithall grounds last Friday, Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said work would start today.

A total of $30 million is required to complete the construction of residential flats.

Cde Kasukuwere said apart from the initial injection, Government would provide more funding towards the project, while the City of Mutare had already engaged financial institutions under the public-private-partnership to raise the balance, as work progresses.

The urban renewal project, said Cde Kasukuwere, would also be implemented in Makokoba, Bulawayo, as well as in Mbare, Harare.

“We are launching a project, the first of its kind in Manicaland that will facelift Mutare and our province at large,” he said.

“The urban renewal project will also bring a new look to Sakubva Township where modern flats will be constructed through the collaboration of Government, City of Mutare and the private sector through the public private partnerships.”

Cde Kasukuwere said some of the housing units in Sakubva were meant to house single black men during the colonial era and with population growth over the decades they had outlived their purpose.

“Despite the increasing population, the infrastructure has not been improving to match the same,” he said. “You will realise that most of the housing units have deteriorated to an all time low and have little or no infrastructure.

“Truly speaking, some of the houses are inhabitable by any standards. The local authority alone is unable to revamp Sakubva to the required standards. Government or the private sector on their own is also not able to rebuild Sakubva to international standards.

“The urban renewal project seeks to spruce up conditions of these former bachelor accommodation of pre-independence era by focusing on the construction of modern low to medium income high-rise apartments and the provisions of utilities and other ancillary services,” he said.

The first phase of the project will see the construction of flats in the NHB and McGregor’s sections of Sakubva. Cde Kasukuwere urged local authorities to provide quality services before harassing residents over non-payment of rates.

He also warned city officials against spending thousands of dollars on travelling allowances attending conferences across the country at the expense of service delivery.

Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister, Cde Mandi Chimene, said the province was facing a myriad of housing challenges.

“That is why we have called you (Cde Kasukuwere) to come and solve the problems we are facing in terms of housing delivery,” she said.

“I grew up in Sakubva. I joined the liberation struggle to fight off the squalid living conditions we were subjected to in Sakubva by the colonial regime.

“We must be united and ensure that we provide decent accommodation to the people.”

Cde Chimene urged beneficiaries to pay rentals so that councils would be able to repay loans being sourced for constructing the flats.

She said the overcrowded conditions in the suburb resulted in serious moral decadence.

The construction of the flats, she said, would ensure privacy, as children will now stay in their quarters away from what happens in their parents’ bedrooms.