Govt to flight tenders for civil servants housing
GOVERNMENT will soon flight tenders for the construction of model high-rise flats for its workers in various provinces, as it kick-starts the project which is coming in as a non-monetary incentive to the employees.
Harare and Bulawayo will each have two blocks of flats as models, while every provincial capital will have one apartment each.
This emerged from a meeting civil servants representatives had with officials from the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing last week.
The indaba was convened to iron out sticky issues before commencement of the project.
Speaking after the meeting, Apex Council chairperson Mrs Cecilia Alexander said implementation of the housing programme was on course.
“The Apex Council and the ministry responsible for housing have agreed to start implementation of the civil service Housing Support Scheme immediately” she said.
“The current phase of the scheme will see the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing floating tenders for the construction of walk-in blocks of flats. Harare and Bulawayo having two blocks each and one in each of the provincial capitals.
“This marks the inception of the project, with more civil servants expected to come on board in due course.”
Government wants to minimise allocation of residential stands and concentrate on building high rise apartments.
It has identified land in cities and towns on which the civil servants flats would be built.
The land is either owned by the State or councils, while in some areas it is already fully-serviced and ready for construction work to start.
More than 75 000 civil servants have registered to be part of the scheme and more are expected to come on board.
Mrs Alexander said the scheme was open to all civil servants.
“Prospective beneficiaries are soon expected to fill in stop order forms to start paying towards the flats, which process will be communicated directly to registered individuals,” she said.
“A number of banks are promising mortgage facilities. To start with, two bedroomed flats will be constructed, each unit costing not more than $24 000. The Apex Council is upbeat about the project and would like to urge civil servants to register for this scheme.
“Those who have registered for residential stands can still switch to flats given that President Mugabe has recently made pronouncements discouraging sprawling settlements. These models will act as price guides. It is our hope that the final cost for the flats will be reduced once we have engaged suppliers of building materials.”
Government is addressing the national housing backlog among civil servants in line with the Zim-Asset economic blueprint, which targets to provide 300 000 housing units by next year.
At least 500 000 civil servants are expected to benefit in the grand scheme, with financial institutions being roped in to offer affordable lines of credit.