By Kingsley Jassi
The Malawi Housing Corporation (MHC) has disclosed that it is considering accessing some pension funds to finance construction of houses under its Project 250.
The state-owned company, which is struggling to keep up with the ever rising housing demand, launched a 10-year plan to construct at least 250 000 houses across the country by 2030.
MHC Chief Executive Officer Victor Chinyama- Sandikonda said in an interview on the sidelines of a tree planting exercise in Lilongwe on Friday that the company is exploring possible financing options available to actualise the ambitious project.
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“Actually, the pension industry is a possible source of resources that we are looking for but we have to discuss and agree with the companies in the industry and if we agree on the terms and conditions we will be using the pension funds to construct houses,” said Sandikonda.
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The company, which admitted financial challenges to implement the strategy, is still in discussion with a Kuwait company, Al Bader International, to agree on a deal that could see construction of 25 000 houses at a cost of $1.5 billion.
During the tree planting event, MHC employees planted about 3 000 trees along Mzimba Street from CrossRoads roundabout to Central Medical Stores, currently under construction.
In his remarks, when he represented the city’s mayor, the councilor for Tsabango 2 ward, McTonnick Phiri, said the council plans to embark on transformation of the city’s streets with landscaping works soon after the construction of the roads finishes.
He called upon stakeholders in mobilizing resources for environmental restoration and transformation of the city through tree planting exercises that are followed by care taking of the trees.
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The capital city residents have already started enjoying freer traffic flow following expansion of several roads into 2 and three lanes a side. However, the projects were not short of controversy as some environmentalists were raged by the cutting down of trees to pave the way for the projects.
