'Plans to build more houses'

(SOURCE: Guardian, 22 Apr 2008. By Lydia Shekighenda, Dodoma)
The government yesterday ruled out plans to further sell government houses. Instead, it promised to build more houses to ensure that needy civil servants got accommodation.

Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development minister John Chiligati told the National Assembly in Dodoma about the government decision when responding to a supplementary question by Samson Mpanda (Kilwa North, CCM) who had wanted to know if the government had plans to sell more of its houses.

``The government will not sell more houses. It will reconstruct and build new ones which will accommodate more people,`` Chiligati said.

``Currently the government is implementing several settlement projects including projects being implemented by the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and the Tanzania Buildings Agency,`` he said.

He said a national policy on settlement development formulated in 2000 clearly showed that the responsibility to improve settlements in rural areas rested in many stakeholders such as the central government, local governments, NGOs as well as individual citizens.

Chiligati said the government had established the NHC and TBA for the purpose of developing human settlements in the country through research and advice in the construction industry.

He however said it was the responsibility of local government authorities to sensitise the people on the importance of having better houses.