CHINHOYI Municipality on Thursday demolished three houses built on unserviced land.

The affected residents were mostly teachers affiliated to the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).
The teachers said they paid the full purchase price for the stands amounting to $6 000, but council had failed to service the land leaving them with no option, but to start building their houses.
One of the affected residents, Forbes Dhakwa described the move by the council as inhuman.
“That is inhuman because they advertised the stands and we bought them. They even went to the extent of showing us the stands, but now they are claiming the land was not yet serviced,” an angry Dhakwa said.
“Where did they put the money we paid?” Chinhoyi town clerk Mazai Mungororo said they will never allow people to build houses on unserviced land as it was against government policy and council by-laws.
“I personally went to the extent of engaging the affected families and ordered them to stop constructing houses, but they went ahead despite the warning. The place has no sewer and water systems, and we cannot allow such confusion to reign,” Mungororo said. The affected PTUZ members have since threatened to take council to court over the issue.
“Definitely, we are going to engage our lawyers to stop council from acting irresponsibly,” a PTUZ official said. -Newsday