LILONGWE (MARAVIPOST)–Malawi government through the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Urban Development has said the urban poor, low earning public officers and private sector employees will also benefit from the K7 billion housing subsidy programme.
This year the programme , which was launched recently by President Arthur Peter Mutharika, targets over 15,000 beneficiaries with 80 houses being built per constituency of which 10 will be given for free to vulnerable beneficiaries such as child headed families, people with physical disabilities and the elderly, among others.
This was disclosed during an interface meeting between the responsible Minister Bright Msaka and Lilongwe Council officers on the implementation of the programme.
Msaka claimed that the housing challenges in the urban areas necessitates that some poor residents should benefit from the programme.
He therefore they will devise a way to organise civil servants and even those working for companies but cannot build houses to be in groups and benefit from the programme because, according to him, there are people in urban areas also who are living in poor conditions due to lack of houses.
Msaka further urged the implementing officers from the local councils to desist from politicizing the programme and that it should benefit needy people regardless of their political aspirations.
“This programme is for the poor Malawians. We don’t want politicians to be benefiting at the expense of those deserving Malawians so it is your responsibility to ensure that the right criterion is followed to identify beneficiaries,” said Msaka.
The rest of the beneficiaries, according to Msaka, will be paying back half of the cost in a period of five years as beneficiaries will be in groups that will be used as collateral in case of defaults.
The officers came up with an action plan on how to identify beneficiaries and implement the programme as construction of houses is expected to start soon after the rains and completed before the next one in the 2015/16 fiscal year.
The programme aims at eradicating housing challenges especially in the rural areas where the majority are living in grass-thatched houses.
