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Govt warns of another clean-up operation
The Herald (Zimbabwe)
January 16, 2007

http://www1.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=13994&cat=1

GOVERNMENT has warned that another clean-up operation might be on the cards if displaced people continue to return and settle illegally in open spaces in urban areas.

In an interview yesterday, Harare Metropolitan Governor Cde David Karimanzira said the Government was against illegal settlements in urban areas and was worried that people were building shacks in open spaces, particularly in Harare.

"As a policy, we don't want squatters and all people that are building shacks must destroy them.

"We might go back to Operation Murambatsvina if people continue to squat everywhere," he said.

Cde Karimanzira urged all those who wanted a roof over their heads to approach their respective local authorities for assistance.

"We want well-planned settlements and the Government is not going to sit and watch while people build shacks everywhere; they will be demolished," said Cde Karimanzira.

Squatter camps are mushrooming in some parts of Harare including the leafy suburbs of Gunhill where some domestic workers were reportedly building shacks near their workplaces to cushion themselves against rising transport costs.

The Government embarked on a two-month clean-up exercise codenamed "Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order" in May 2005 to rid the country's cities and towns of illegal residential and business structures and other vices.

However, because of a sharp increase in rentals, the majority of workers were finding it difficult to secure decent accommodation, often resorting to building shacks in open spaces.

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