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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: ZIMBABWE HOUSING POLITICS (TV)
HEADLINE: Zimbabwe Gov’t Announces Affordable Housing Deal
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 02/21/2022 AT 2:40PM
BYLINE: Columbus Mavhunga
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Harare, Zimbabwe
VIDEOGRAPHER: Blessing Chigwenhembe
VIDEO EDITOR:
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, MAS
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA Original
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 2:29
VID APPROVED BY: MAS
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES:))
((INTRO)) [[Zimbabwe's government has announced a $377 million project to deal with a housing shortage by constructing affordable homes before next year's election. But critics note such promises often come ahead of elections and that there are Zimbabweans who have been on a housing waiting list for more than a decade. Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare.]]
((NARRATOR))
Unemployed Sylvester Mutemashinga is one of the many Zimbabweans who have no decent place to live in. For nine years now, he has lived in this structure made mainly of plastic.
((Sylvester Mutemashinga, Unable To Afford A House - Shona VO 22 sec))
“My wish is to get money and I build a house so that I can stay comfortably with my family. I live with my wife, child and nephew. But because of the difficulty of life, jobs are hard to come by. The small jobs we get do not pay enough. You end getting money just for subsistence.”
((NARRATOR))
Across the road, posh houses are being built and some are on sale to the upper class in Zimbabwe.
Kudza Chatiza, a professor in rural and urban planning at University of Zimbabwe, says the poor find it difficult to build or even secure property because of the high cost of living.
He says, for example, Zimbabwe has the most expensive cement in the region.
((Kudzai Chatiza – University of Zimbabwe Professor (in English, 15 secs)))
“The cost of putting structures need to be looked at. And the cost of finance needs to be looked at as well because our mortgage rates are between 40 and 50 percent so it’s already an economy that is unable to build houses at scale because of cost of ingredients to put up a house.”
((NARRATOR))
The government says it is aware of the housing problem. Monica Mutsvangwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of information, says the government has started constructing houses nationwide at more than 50 sites which should be ready for occupation by next year
She says the construction is part of efforts to clear the waiting list for homes, which has grown to more than 1.5 million.
((Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information ((ENG.15 secs))
“The sites are expected to avail 324 blocks of flats yielding a cumulative 5.184 units for emergency settlements. The total cost required for construction of flats up to 2023 amounts to in US dollars $377 million dollars”
((NARRATOR))
In the past, similar pronouncements have been made with elections around the corner.
Whatever the outcome, Mutemashinga hopes to get into a decent home soon.
(Columbus Mavhunga, for VOA News, Harare, Zimbabwe))
NewsML Media TopicsSociety, Economy, Business and Finance
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateFebruary 21, 2022 14:32 EST
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
