The Sunday News
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Victoria Falls City Council has approached the Department of Physical Planning in Government seeking approval to allocate housing stands on the edge of Chamabondo National Park to ease its ballooning waiting list.
Initially the council had earmarked to release about 1 000 high density and low-density housing stands for the particular project but Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said they had reduced them to 500 to accommodate land for social amenities. The council has earmarked land between Mkhosana and the National park for development of Mkhosana extension.
Victoria Falls housing waiting stands at more than 15 000 people and the local authority has said it has run out of land for expansion and approached Government requesting more land. The resort city is surrounded by national parks while construction of buildings that tower above trees is restricted under the National Parks Act so as to preserve the area in a pristine natural wonder.
About five years ago the council released more than 1 000 low-cost housing stands on the Buffer Zone in a partnership with CBZ Bank. In an interview, Mr Dube said the local authority had learnt from past mistakes and will not be pressured to allocate people stands on un-serviced land as that has presented serious challenges.
Mkhosana suburb was early this year hit by flash floods which were blamed on poor drainage system because there are no storm drains while a section of the suburb, BD46 is still without proper water and sewer service nearly 20 years since it was built.
“Council was pressured to allocate land for housing and that explains the challenges of drainage system especially during the rainy season. These are the challenges we are trying to manage now going forward at council’s cost,” added Mr Dube. — @ncubeleon.
