By Wezzie Gausi:
President Lazarus Chakwera Monday launched Project 250, which will see State-owned real estate giant Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) constructing 250,000 houses across the country.
Chakwera said under the project, MHC plans to build 25,000 houses annually for the next 10 years.
Speaking during the first ever National Housing Symposium for 2024 in Lilongwe, Chakwera said 500 of the houses are already under construction.
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He observed that the country has been facing housing problems for ages.
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According to Chakwera, he intends to end this problem by making sure that people have decent houses as per the aspirations of the Malawi (MW) 2063 vision.
“It is my wish that this project will be a success. As you may all be aware, my administration also embarked on construction of 10,000 houses for [Malawi] Police [Service] and Malawi Defence Force personnel.
“This symposium has been organised for stakeholders to share ideas on how best the country can grow when it comes to houses. We, as the government, will need inputs for this project to be a success,” Chakwera said.
On his part, Lands Minister Deus Gumba said, so far, the government has built over 4,300 houses through various partnerships in flood-prone areas.
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He said the issue of housing, which is covered under the Urbanisation Pillar of the MW2063, is also key to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals.
“Poor housing of humans leads to health challenges and failure to participate in economic development activities by citizens, for it is healthy people who ably participate in economic development activities of a country,” Gumba said.
The symposium was held under the theme ‘Sustainable and Affordable Housing in Pursuit of MW2063’.
Taking his turn, Secretary for Lands Devie Chilonga said the ministry has, in collaboration with the Shelter Cluster and other stakeholders, developed safer housing designs and guidelines.
“The Safer Houses Construction Guidelines are based on current construction practices, local skills and materials. They focus on multi-hazard risk reduction through a participatory planning process,” Chilonga said.
In a related development, Chakwera broke the ground for MHC headquarters building in Lilongwe.
The corporation is one of the State-owned firms that have relocated from Blantyre to Lilongwe; the other being the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority.
