Govt commits to build 2 500 houses

 Government says it is committed to start Phase II of the construction of 2 500 houses for security agencies to reduce housing challenges.

Minister of Homeland Security Richard Chimwendo Banda said this in response to Chikwawa Central member of Parliament (MP) Salim Bagus’s question in Parliament for the government to construct houses for police officers and a fence at Nchalo Police Station.

The security institutions include the Immigration and Citizenship Services, Malawi Defence Force (MDF), Malawi Prison Service and Malawi Police Service (MPS), most of whose officers live in rented or dilapidated institutional houses.

Bagus said officers lack access to decent housing and where it is available, it is in dilapidated state.

But Chimwendo Banda said government is committed to construct the houses for law enforcement agencies nationally and that the first phase is underway while adverts for contractors to apply for the second phase will be floated in the media this week.

He said: “We look at priority areas where the need is dire without looking at geographical position. We had set five years to construct 10 000 houses for law enforcement agencies but we are starting with 2 500 houses.

“We believe that within five years we will build more than 10 000 houses because the need for housing for our men in uniform is huge.”

On his part, Minister of Lands Kezzie Msukwa said the construction of the first phase of houses is progressing well as inaugurated by President Lazarus Chakwera on December 15 2020 in Karonga.

He said the first phase accounts for 1 000 houses while the second phase will see 2 500 houses built across all government security institutions in the country