The Environmental Management Agency EMA has expressed concern over ZANU(PF) led Housing cooperatives which are giving residential  stands in wetlands
There are several housing cooperatives which are led by known ZANU (PF) officials and former liberation war fighters which have sprouted throughout Harare.
These housing cooperatives are selling sub-serviced residential stands to desperate home seekers everywhere including wetlands without getting environmental certification from EMA.
“We are very much worried and concerned and these are illegal because they do not have the environmental certification. Where we certify it means the water and sewer reticulation system must be up and running and the area must be ripe for people to move in and stay,”Education and Publicity Manager for EMA Steady Kangata  told reporters  on the sidelines of the World Environment Day celebrations in Harare this week.
“These wetlands are going, going, gone vanishing wetlands   because they are under a lot of pressure a lot of stress in terms of infrastructural development”.
Kangata said besides depleting wetlands housing cooperatives giving people residential stands in wetlands are exposing the same to water borne diseases giving an example of Calidonia one of the settlements situated on a wetland.
“These people have shallow wells and a combination of the shallow wells side by side they are using septic tanks and that is not acceptable because there is fecal contamination in most of these housing cooperatives that we have made surveys”.