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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
Beitbridge Rural District Council has availed 485 residential stands at Lutumba Business Centre to ease accommodation challenges in the border town.

Council’s chief executive Mr Peter Moyo said the stands were located some 20km along the Beitbridge-Masvingo Highway. He said the area has already been serviced.

“The first batch of 400 was serviced towards the end of 2015 and have been allocated to the beneficiaries. We are, however, in the midst of servicing 85 more stands, which will be allocated soon,” Mr Moyo said. He said the stands would benefit people on the council’s housing waiting list.

The waiting list currently stands at 3 000.

“The cost of servicing the stands is relatively cheap since they will be using septic tanks and water reticulated from the two boreholes drilled in the area,” he said.

Mr Moyo said the property development initiative was part of council’s efforts to upgrade the growth point into a modern peri-urban centre.

He said they had also completed laying water reticulation pipes while they have also identified a place for a proposed dumpsite.

“We are expecting the area to be a hive of activity by the end of the year. Civil works on the construction of a relatively bigger communal waste collection centre are almost complete,” he said.

Mr Moyo said council was also rehabilitating major roads which, were early this year, destroyed by flash floods.

Accommodation shortages have become a common problem in Beitbridge Town where some of the residents are shuttling from Lutumba Growth Point to the town.

The town has a population of 42 218 and 11 959 households but the number is increasing by each day due to its economic activity and proximity to South Africa.