Beitbridge RDC avails 485 housing stands

BEITBRIDGE Rural District council has availed 485 residential stands at Lutumba growth point as part of measures to ease accommodation challenges in the border town.

The council’s chief executive officer, Mr Peter Moyo, said yesterday that the stands were located some 20km along the Beitbridge-Masvingo highway. He said they had already serviced the area with roads and water infrastructure.

“The first batch of 400 stands was serviced towards the end of 2015 and have been allocated to the beneficiaries,” he said,

“Currently, we are in the midst of servicing 85 more stands, which will soon be allocated to the respective beneficiaries. These will be allocated to people on our housing waiting list, which stands at 3 000.

“The cost of servicing them is relatively cheap since they will be using septic tanks and water reticulation from the two boreholes we drilled in the area”.

Mr Moyo said the property development initiative was part of their efforts to upgrade Lutumba growth point into a modern peri-urban centre. He said they had also completed laying water pipes and that they have also identified a place for a proposed dumpsite.

Mr Moyo said the allocation of the stands was done in line with the government’s housing for all scheme.

“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.

The local authority is also working on rehabilitating major roads, which were damaged by flash floods early this year. 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 due to its economic activity and proximity to South Africa.