The Sunday News
Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
BENEFICIARIES of housing stands in Woodville in Bulawayo have started putting up structures despite the matter being locked up in arbitration.
The area is not yet fully serviced and permitted for any construction work to take place. Beneficiaries of housing stands in Woodville have been up in arms with the developer, Asphalt Construction over the delayed servicing of the area despite them paying in full the purchase prices.
The matter has been referred to arbitration to force the contractor to complete servicing the area. A Sunday News crew last Wednesday visited the area where they observed two stand owners having drilled boreholes and have already started digging foundations, inclusive of setting up temporary accommodation for workers at the site.
Other beneficiaries raised a red flag to the activities saying that if council did not explain the activity they would also move on site and also begin construction activities.
“We paid for those stands in full but because of lack of key amenities like roads, sewer and water reticulation council told us it was illegal for us to start developing our stands but now we see some people have moved to the site. BCC has to tell us what is happening or else we will also start construction activities because we feel we have to be handled as equals,” said a beneficiary who declined to be named.
Contacted for comment, BCC Director of Housing and Community Services, Mr Dictor Khumalo confirmed that there were some individuals who had illegally started construction work at the site. He said what people should realise was that the construction activities could have long term effects on the project, as this could damage the roads infrastructure that was already in place.
“We received a complaint to the effect that there were people that were embarking on construction activities outside council clearance. We then sent our teams and spoke with these unscrupulous individuals, informing them that what they were doing is illegal, which they also acknowledged and apologised for their actions.
“As council we understand that the beneficiaries really want this project to be fully serviced so they begin constructing and we are under pressure because of the continued delays but we plead with the beneficiaries to be patient as the issue is finally close to being resolved,” said Mr Khumalo.
He said what was key was for the developer to first fully finish servicing the area before residents could move in and start construction work.
“At the moment the project manager is dealing with the contractor, so let us give them the time to reach an understanding then have the site properly serviced first. If people move in and start digging foundations they might damage the roads there and this will mean that the contractor will now have to start the project from scratch which will delay the project further and also increase the cost,” said Mr Khumalo.
A number of housing projects in the city have been left hanging after most private developers did not finish their work after demanding to be paid in US dollars at a time the country was using the local currency pegged at par with the US dollar, an arrangement that council could not manage.
