The Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) has said there is no joy in seeing the government commissioning housing units as civil servants cannot afford them.
The union was responding to a Twitter Post by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services which indicated that President Emmerson Mnangagwa commissioned the FBC Fountaine Ridge Housing project in Kuwadzana, Harare.
The bank constructed 858 housing units.
National Housing and Social Amenities Permanent Secretary Engineer Joy Makumbe previously said the government was doing 20 per cent of the construction while FBC did the rest.
In a Twitter post seen by Pindula News, PTUZ said civil servants cannot afford the houses. Read the post:
We prefer to see housing projects that civil servants can afford. Fountain Ridge is a housing project for the diaspora. What crime did we commit to be sidelined continuously like this?
The houses are being constructed under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1)’s Social development pillar which focuses on improving access to basic social services.
The government targets to build 220 000 housing units by 2025 by partnering with the private sector.
FBC says the whole project factors in modern trends in housing development in line with global standards such as Wi-Fi connectivity, in addition to the usually required infrastructure.
Each unit will also have a 5 000-litre water tank and a booster pump.
Civil servants earn less than US$500, therefore, cannot afford the housing units.