eBusiness Weekly
Tawanda Musarurwa
HARARE – The National Building Society (NBS) has moved to expedite the construction of low-cost housing at Merwede, Glaudina.
The Glaudina Housing Project was initiated in 1999 by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) and was originally designed to provide fully serviced stands for owner designed and constructed housing units targeting the low to middle income wage groups, that is, high density and medium density housing.
Project was divided into Phases 1, 2, 3 totalling approximately 2000 stands. The objective in each phase was the installation of the essential infrastructure – sewer, water reticulation, roads and stormwater drainage.
NBS is the brain child of NSSA, a result of an investment through the National Pensions Scheme (NPS) fund and the Workers Compensation Insurance Fund. It has therefore taken over the development of the Glaudina project.
According to a recent tender NBS is seeking contractors that will handle the low-cost housing element of the project.
“Only contractors with a proven track record in construction and currently registered with the Registrar of Companies, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, NSSA, and the Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing in Category “A” to “D” are eligible to tender, “ reads part of the informal tender.
In terms of the groundwork done by NSSA, phase 1 of the Glaudina housing project comprised of 394 residential stands measuring 600 to 1 200 square metres; 73 residential stands measuring 300 square metres, and eight commercial stands, as well as other institutional stands for schools, churches, and etcetera.
Phase 1 commenced in 2006 and could not proceed later in 2007 due to economic challenges resulting in Contractor abandoning site. Situation was worse in 2008 leading to suspension of all NSSA projects.
At time of project suspension most of the water and sewerage reticulation was complete except for connection to City of Harare systems whilst roads were at 30 percent with 70 percent to go.
After the multicurrency introduction, an application was made to State Procurement Board to resume road works.
Approval was granted on 2 June 2011. This was only surfacing of three roads at a cost of $1 109 956, 16 approved under PBR 0732.
A further request to complete all the road works was made to SPB and granted March 1, 2012 at a cost of $2 467 873, 57 bringing the total to $3 577 829, 73 inclusive of the $1 109 956, 16.
NBS was set up with the sole mandate of contributing to the National Housing stock and in support of the Government’s Zim-Asset and financial inclusion programmes.
Zimbabwe has an estimated housing backlog of 1, 5 million of which more than half is in the capital, Harare.
