The government’s plan to establish a housing microfinance fund to provide affordable houses to the people is commendable. According to the minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Prof Anna Tibaijuka, the project should go a long way in easing the huge housing shortage that is already a major national crisis.

Official statistics indicate that the housing deficit stands at more 200,000 units a year. The demand keeps increasing as the population grows. The proposed project is part of the country’s grand plan to formalise the mortgage market and make it easier for people to find cheaper and better accommodation.

We believe the project will enable low-income earners to enjoy quality housing. If well implemented, it should help to slow down the mushrooming of slums and squatter areas. It also comes at a time when population pressure has begun to exceed the capacity of big towns such as Dar es Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza to provide adequate housing for their residents.

The National Housing Corporation has a key role to play here and should be strengthened to provide the bulk of affordable housing for rent to salaried workers and others to reduce the crisis gripping the country.

The best the government can do now is to speed up the implementation. We are confident that under the guidance of Prof Tibaijuka, who did a commendable job at the helm of the UN HABITAT in Nairobi, this should be possible.

She not only has the knowledge and expertise on the creation of settlements, and the inherent challenges, but has also been involved in the search of solutions at the highest international level.

In addition to providing affordable housing to low-income earners, it is also high time the government sorted out the problem of unsurveyed plots in Dar es Salaam and other urban centres.

Only about a quarter of this commercial capital is surveyed. This causes a lot of inconveniences and loss of property, when people who construct their own houses, have to watch helplessly as they are demolished to pave the way for the development of infrastructure.

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