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Residents fight for protection of wetlands
Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)
October 10, 2013

Combined Harare Residents Association environment committee has vowed to fight for the protection of wetlands in Harare. Residents quizzed the wanton distribution and construction of wetlands as seen in Borrowdale, Belvedere and Gunhill. The Borrowdale shopping mall, Chinese shopping mall and the proposed Monavale shopping mall in Gunhill are all situated on wetlands which pose a threat to the ecosystem. It is public knowledge that the constitution provides for the protection of wetlands which have been threatened by the irregular allocation of land and the mushrooming of illegal and uncontrolled housing cooperatives and shoddy development constructions.

The Environment Management Agency (EMA) has been doing some civic education to try and educate people on the benefits of conserving our wetlands. However, there is need to strengthen its role from a policy perspective in view of its current mandate. To this end, the Environment committee of the association has embarked on a mission to unravel the effects of constructions being done on wetlands. The outcomes of this mission will be compiled into a report which will be submitted to the respective parliamentary portfolio committee dealing with land and the environment. We challenge the Ministry responsible for protecting our environment to ensure that all shoddy construction deals that were done on wetlands be reversed. This must be followed by an audit bent on finding out the circumstances leading to the construction on wetlands with all culprits regardless of portfolio being brought to book. It is alleged that some of the construction mentioned above was not done in line with the prerequisites of EMA for instance it is alleged that the environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the land holding the Chinese mall was only done after construction was finished and sources close to the deal have also revealed that the building is cracking hence the delay in its opening. The damning report has never been made public. This in turn poses a great danger to workers and clients visiting the mall with possibilities of the building collapsing being high.

The environment committee will start its research today at the Chinese mall then move to other areas. We will also investigate the allocation of stands in areas like Harare North, south and East. There have been reports of stands being issued on political lines. The minister of local government, public works and national housing Dr I. Chombo has been on record, warning to rein in on errant housing cooperatives. We implore the minister to investigate stories of land that was allegedly distributed in Hatcliffe extension towards election time by some suspected Zanu-PF officials who are leaders at grass-root level. As a follow up to that reports of stands allocated in cemeteries in Harare South have been confirmed by the association’s ward leadership and there is also need to find out how this came about and audit all the channels which led to such heinous land allocation.

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