Local Government and Housing Deputy Minister Danny Chingimbu has called on the private sector, financial institutions and other development partners to partner with government to construct affordable housing units in the country.
Speaking at the launch of Lafarge Zambia Demonstration House for an alternative construction technology, Mr. Chingimbu said that in 2010, it was estimated that Zambia had a deficit of more than 1.5 million housing units.
He said it was projected that by 2030 Zambia would have a deficit of about three million housing units hence the need to construct more houses.
Mr Chingimbu noted that the construction industry is key in promoting government’s role of sustainable socio-economic development and reducing poverty in the country, including inadequate access to housing.
He commended Lafarge Zambia for promoting alternative construction technologies in Zambia.
And Lafarge Zambia Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Rigaux said the challenge that the country was facing was how to build housing units in a cost effective manner.
Mr. Rigaux said it is for this reason that his company was promoting alternative technologies of how to construct cost effective housing units.
He said the walls of the house his company was launching were built using expanded polystyrene systems.
Mr. Rigaux said the technology allows for an improved thermal insulation which is used to reduce energy consumption related to heating and cooling in the building.
Meanwhile Finish Ambassador to Zambia Timo Olkkonen in a speech read on his behalf by Charge` d`Affaires a.i. Maurice Starckman said inland has been supporting the reforms needed to enable private sector development in Zambia for years though the two sectoral programmes of the government, the Private Sector Development Reforms Programme (PSDRP) and the Financial Sector Development Plan (FSDP).
Mr. Starckman said the two programmes are coming to an end this year but his country will continue the funding of the partnership between the government of Zambia and the United Nations in supporting private sector development and job creation in the building construction sector through the Zambia Green Jobs programme.
“Affordable” is the key word. I may be mistaken, but isn’t the most acute shortage of housing concentrated in the ‘lower income’ areas?
If new housing is constructed, but remains unaffordable…then what’s the use?
For some reason I’m thinking about the Northgate Gardens project.
Just ask Kambwili to build more houses hahaha
Your Excellency, President Lungu,
Kindly help some of us who have bought land from 3rd parties in Chelston Extension located behind Kamanga compound. This land, formerly NRDC land, was demarcated and released by Government for sale to the public. Most or nearly all of it was shared by MMD cadres. They then re-sold the plots at higher to “ordinary” citizens from whom some of us bought at even higher prices. This was around 2004/7. The Ministry of Lands revoked their own survey conducted earlier and told new buyers to pay K2.5m (for 15X12metre) each for resurveying. To date the re-surveying has not been done. We built the houses but the Council stopped ZESCO from providing power. Individual initiative frustrated by GRZ. We are stuck. The plots are not illegal, HE.
PHI housing was meant to build houses for public servants and other low-income citizens who could not afford houses on the open market. Disappointingly, Chiluba government decided to sell government and council houses at the most ridiculous give-away prices to the few lucky sitting tenants and imposed prohibitive prices on PHI built-houses. Thus, thousands of public servants who were living in rented houses and ramshackles of our cities were cruelly denied affordable housing by its own government and employer. Only those privileged and crooked public servants were able to buy the houses or Chalala-type plots to build mansions. These were commended by top GRZ officials for their “initiative”. This is the past and present. HE please help the people of Zambia.
How about supporting the hardworking citizens who have built houses in Chalala,Ibex meanwood, Ndeke village and others areas by taking sewerage systems, water network and even tarred roads. You only put roads in kombonis for votes you hypocrites while you get most tax from us!!!
Our GRZ should be serious with this issue. Help people who use their own scarce resources to build their own houses. The most frustrating thing in Zambia is that land appears to be “owned by the state on behalf of citizens” but in reality the “government owns land on behalf of Ministry of Lands and Council officials” who “auction” it to the “ordinary” citizens. It is so hard to get land from the Ministry of Lands. Processing of already acquired land is a nightmare. People are made to repeatedly go the Ministry of Lands and the notorious Land registry at Lusaka City Council. The ACC appointed liaison officers there but they never do a thing and ACC does not even monitor. I am sure the President has been lied to already by all these culprits. HE, help your people.
Its quite encouraging, just to go a little backward Zanaco gave Ndola city council a loan to construct Itawa flats which a lot people benefited but surprisingly the council had no further plans to construct more from the money they were getting from clients up to the time the former president Banda sold the flats to sitting tenants.
I can build at least 100 houses but how just to get that land. If the government is ready to give me land i am ready to build the 100