No compensation for demolished houses

Home-seekers who built houses on land illegally acquired from property barons will not be compensated when authorities demolish their structures, a Cabinet minister has said.

Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Dr Ignatius Chombo said those affected should press criminal charges against the barons and get refunds.

"There will be no compensation for people who built on wetlands or on illegal stands. Go back to the land baron who sold you the land and claim your money.

"These land barons should then be arrested for parcelling out land meant for schools, industrial development and hospitals," Minister Chombo said.

"They should not be allowed to mess up our planning.

"Councils have legal stands; approach them and get legal land to develop."

Government resolved to demolish houses and other structures constructed in undesignated locations to ensure all residential properties conform to prescribed land use policies.

In Chitungwiza, thousands of residents bought stands from land barons, some of whom are council employees.

It later turned out that the "residential stands" were earmarked for projects such as schools, industries, roads, shops and clinics.

The courts are handling appeals against the demolition of houses built on such land.

Residents in other parts of Zimbabwe also erected structures in areas classified as "dangerous zones".

Harare City Council is auditing all illegal constructions in the capital and will regularise selected ones.

In a statement released last Thursday, Town House said: "Harare City Council would like to inform all persons building houses and any structures on undesignated sites to stop forthwith to avoid further loss of resources.

"New construction work on illegal sites that begins after this warning will be demolished without notice. The stoppage is to allow council together with the Provincial Joint Operations Commission to carry out an audit of all construction work on land that was not allocated to beneficiaries by council and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing."

In Bulawayo, the Mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, said municipalities were not mandated to compensate owners of illegal structures.

"These structures are illegal; they must be demolished.

"Some of these structures were built on wetlands or spaces reserved for clinics and schools.

". . . In terms of compensation, it would also be illogical to ask council to compensate the affected people. Rather, the land barons that sold them the stands should compensate them."

Mutare Mayor Councillor Tatenda Nhamarare weighed in saying: "We are not going back on the demolitions. We, however, haven't started (demolishing structures) here in Mutare as we are still looking for a solution before destroying the illegal settlements.

"We have located designated places where those affected might be shifted to."

Masvingo Mayor Councillor Urbert Sidze urged Government to review its position and engage town planners over a possible solution.

"It is improper to demolish someone's home given that thousands of dollars would have been poured into building the structure.

"Maybe engineers and town planners should be called in to assist where possible."