Melfort housing project boon for Goromonzi 

Source: Melfort housing project boon for Goromonzi – The Standard

By Style Reporter

A new housing development project is set to change the face of Goromonzi district’s Melfort area in a move viewed as a boon for the farming community.

Dubbed Diamond Park, the project is providing residential stands to more than 1 300 people, including youths, war veterans, civil servants and people living with disabilities in and around the district.

Eastwinds Trust and Vintage Properties, the developers, confirmed to Standard Style that all was set for the commencement of the project which is one of the housing projects that got the blessings of the government.

Government has given the Diamond Park developers the green light to proceed with the project after a land dispute involving Goromonzi Rural District Council.

On the same note, National Housing and Social Amenities minister Daniel Garwe launched the residential stands regularisation exercise in Solomio and Caledonia in Goromonzi South. The local authority had claimed that the land belonged to them.

Eastwinds Trust and Vintage Properties have welcomed the developments, saying the projects was ready to take off.

“We are happy with the recent move by government to regularise illegal settlements in Goromonzi South constituency, especially in Caledonia and Solomio,” one of the developers, Roger Pote, said.

“Those who benefited from the stands are happy with the move and we will ensure that proper planning and paper work is in place.”

Pote said more than 1 000 people had already benefited from the Diamond Park housing project and they were happy that the numbers were growing as they seek to develop the farming community.

“We are in support of government’s policy on housing for all as well as the Vision 2030 target,” he said.

“We also want to see places such as Melfort grow just like other places in the country. We are coming in here as developers and that is what we stand for.”

Diamond Park was once a farm, but according to the developers, the area is an ideal site for moderate-sized residential stands, including shopping and recreation centres and schools, among others.

Experts say Melfort’s growth would be propelled by availability of land and its strategic location. The area is located 40km outside the capital on the Harare-Mutare highway.

The government said it targeting at building 500 000 housing units in 10 years, in line with its Vision 2030 aimed at turning the country into an upper middle income economy.

It has since pledged to secure investors to establish projects within settlements to improve the lives of the people.