Hopley is one of the government-allocated farms dedicated to build houses for the affected people after Murambatsvina Operation. It is 17km south of the city centre along New Chitungwiza Road.
“I got this stand three months ago and built a room quickly using raw clay blocks. Despite being plastered with cement, it fell down due to cracks,” said a woman who identified herself as Mai Richard. “Most of the areas here are swampy and really need baked bricks or cement blocks to build, with a deep foundation. Most of the houses you see here have one line brick foundations.”
Most of the affected people are lodgers from high density locations like Highfields, Glen Norah, Budiriro, Mbare, Sunningdale and Waterfalls who wanted to avoid soaring rent charges.
“Last year we had a drought so most people did not build strong structures,” said Vincent Chinodya, a resident. “Unemployed youths here have never built before but they call themselves builders. Most of the houses are falling down because they were not built properly.”
Chinodya said toilets had also been destroyed.
Meanwhile, about 15 houses have fallen down in Epworth Komboni Yatsva area, Overspill and Cell 7 areas.
“Things are not well here, the continuous rains have been no good for some of our structures, leaving people to sleep in plastic shacks,” said Gerald Timba, a resident from Cell 7.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Sesel Zvidzai recently told The Zimbabwean that his ministry got $85 million from the Treasury to assist homeless citizens through the Civil Protection Unit funding. Funds will only be available towards the end of the first quarter of 2013.
Post published in: News