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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – 2010

SAHF International Conference, Exhibition and Housing Awards –10 to 13 October 2010

Authors Lookout B. Ndlovu – BSc Civil & Water Eng (Hons). Chiedza Manyepa – B. Arch. Studies (Hons), B.Arch

Department of Civil & Water Engineering, Department of Architecture

National University of Science & Technology National University of Science & Technology

Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Box AC 939, Ascot, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

lbndlovu@nust.ac.zw chiedzamanyepa@gmail.com/cmanyepa1695@nust.ac.zw

Nyathi Mkhululi – Project Coordinator

Bulawayo Home-Seekers Cnsortium Trust

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

mkhululimk@gmail.com

Alternative approach to sustainable Urban Housing: An evaluation of the Cowdray Park Self

Help initiative.

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on a community self help housing project in Cowdray Park, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

whose members lost their houses under the government instituted Operation Murambatsvina (‘clean

up’) and were allocated un-serviced land under a subsequent Operation Hlalani Kuhle. The community

faces an imminent social, economic and environmental disaster.

With nowhere else to turn to, about 2000 members of this community pooled their resources together

as the Bulawayo Home seekers Consortium Trust in-order to provide themselves basic infrastructure.

The paper outlines in brief, the background to this situation, the urban geography of the area, the

housing and infrastructural challenges facing this community, and the other social, economic and

environmental challenges that the Consortium is fighting.

The Consortium’s efforts and achievements are evaluated against established global best practice, and

the paper finally makes a statement on the efficacy of this self help, as an alternative approach to

sustainable urban housing provision.

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ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED: STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER 1. BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT:

o Information on Operation Murambatsvina, o National Housing Policy & Local Housing Regulations o A bit on the political and economic background at national level, o Housing situation in the Bulawayo Metropolitan area (at the time)

2. THE PROJECT

o Structure of BHSCT, Mission, Vision, o Operations and Membership issues, o Background of beneficiaries. – Income groups etc, o Project Site Area – Survey Maps and Development Plans, Google earth

Images, o Projections for total development – in terms of Roads, Water

reticulation, Houses and other amenities. o Associated costs for this central infrastructure (as per BHSCT

approach) and broken down to each homeowner and terms of payment o How much is the comparable cost of all this – following the traditional

conventional approaches and the cost to the homeowner and terms of payment?

o What is BHSCT’s plan of action regarding this and how is this more affordable to the homeowner?

o What are the quality control mechanisms adopted or to be adopted in the project?

o What are the responses by the various stakeholders? 3. PROJECT PROGRESS

o What progress has been made so far in terms of Fundraising and Expenditures into the project?

o How much work has so far been laid out – with respect to the total project plan of work? What percentage of completion is the project t?

o How is it being received by the stakeholders? o What are some of the challenges facing the project? o What new opportunities, partnerships or collaborations have been

generated so far in the progress of the project? o What are some of the wishes of the BHSCT to optimize or speed up

project progress? 4. LESSONS LEARNT AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 How does this project feed into the Housing paradigm? What is its novelty and suggestions for the future in Zimbabwe and or other countries? 4.2 What is the future of BHSCT after this project? 5. CONCLUSION

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Alternative approach to sustainable Urban Housing: An evaluation of the Cowdray Park Self Help initiative.

1.0 BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT: Housing continues to be the one of the most eminent socio-economic challenges facing most of the developing world. At present 50.6 percent of the world’s population — or 3.49 billion people — are living in urban areas. And of those, some 828 million live in slum conditions1. In Zimbabwe, a country of about 12.6 million people, the current urban housing waiting lists for the 29 major urban centers stands at 542 6302 with Bulawayo contributing over 103 000 of these. The country continues to urbanize at the rate of 7%3, but this urban growth has not been matched by a similar growth in Housing and related infrastructural growth, resulting in ever growing urban poverty and homelessness figures. Zimbabwe is beginning to see a measure of stabilization after decade of political and socio-economic turbulence from which the housing sector emerged with deep scars. In 2005, in the middle of an unfolding political and economic meltdown, the government of Zimbabwe instituted a countrywide forcible housing reform – Operation Murambatsvina (Operation ‘Drive Out Rubbish’) in which an estimated 700 0004 people lost their houses, while some urban centres lost as much as 60% of their dwellings5 This paper will not attempt to discuss or explain the details of ‘why’ or ‘how’s of the Operation. This was succeeded by Operation Hlalani Kuhle in which the government sought to restructure housing through the provision of basic, standardized units. In Bulawayo, Operation Hlalani was structure into two phases, the first of which aimed at providing 700 core units (for those families that were affected, though it fell far short of the requirements6), and the second phase which was mooted as a Self-help program (in the Cowdray Park area comprising about 7000 unserviced stands), under which individuals and cooperative, company and institutions were allocated these stands to develop their own housing and related infrastructure 1 Ten years into the Millennium Development Goals by Oyebanji Oyeyinka and Mayokun Soremekun, Urban World- june 2010 2 Statement by the Honorable F Mhashu, Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities at the 2nd Session of the governing council of the United Nations Commission on Human Settlements UN-Habitat 30 March 2009, Nairobi, Kenya. 3 Ibid. 4 UNHabitat figures Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe to assess the Scope and Impact of Operation Murambatsvina by the UN Special Envoy on Human Settlements Issues in Zimbabwe by Mrs. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka 5 Ibid. For example, Victoria Falls lost 60% of its housing, with 3,368 units destroyed. 6 Operation Murambatsvina: Five years on. A report published by the SOLIDARITY PEACE TRUST, JOHANNESBURG, 30 July 2010, states that of the only 33 houses have been built in Bulawayo, to replace the 10,870 structures that were demolished.

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individually and collectively respectively. This paper focuses more on the second phase of this program. 1.1 National Housing Policy and other Local Housing Regulations The current National Housing Policy for Zimbabwe was crafted in 1999 with a vision that recognizes Housing as central to the well being of the nation, and that a household that is appropriately sheltered is an essential building block of Zimbabwe. This policy document announced the government’s aim to establish a locally based and sustainable housing process which enables all Zimbabwean households to secure appropriate housing to meet their needs. The document outlines the government’s responsibility to allow Housing delivery through as wide as possible variety of mechanisms, including community based initiatives. There is an emphasis on affordability, sustainability and environmental protection and management. Other policy documentation governing housing in Zimbabwe includes:

Housing and Building Act Chapter 22:07; Housing Standards Control Act Chapter 29:08; Urban Councils Act Chapter 29:15; Rural District Councils Act Chapter 29:13; Housing Standards Circular No. 70 of 2004; Model Building By-laws of 1977; The Regional Town and Country Planning Act Chapter 29:12, Rent Regulations (1982) as amended in (200?), The Home Ownership Policy (1980), The Housing Upgrading Programme, The National Housing Development Programme (Dec. 2005) and the Rural

Housing Programme (1982) At the National Housing conference held in Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) in 2009, held under the theme: Towards An Integrated Approach To Sustainable And Affordable Housing And Social Amenities Delivery In Zimbabwe, a morass of existing challenges housing delivery in the country were identified as follows: 1.2 Spatial Planning and land Development

Time frame is not very clearly stated and was considered to be lax and rather too long for all types of plans

There is a lot of political pressure at the various stages of plan preparation on all the different level plans in the hierarchy of these spatial plans

Plan approval authority is heavily centralized 1.3 Development procedures

Time taken to approve building plans is too long and fees are too high Inconsistency in the interpretation and implementation of the by-laws e.g.

use of farm bricks Corrupt tendencies by local authority officials who fail plans for flimsy

reasons

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There is overemphasis on homeownership, at the expense of other housing types

Local authorities have no capacity to deal with the provision of the national housing policy

The major cost of servicing is the off-site infrastructure whose responsibility in practice is not clear

No clarity on the status of recently acquired farms It has been noted that housing finance for the low income is generally not

available on the market 1.4 Housing policy and Allied statutes

There is overemphasis on homeownership, at the expense of other housing types

Local authorities have no capacity to deal with the provision of the national housing policy

The major cost of servicing is the off-site infrastructure whose responsibility in practice is not clear

No clarity on the status of recently acquired farms It has been noted that housing finance for the low income is generally not

available on the market 1.5 Land Development and finance

The building by-laws no longer in line with new policies and circulars There seem to be politicization of the land allocation process Lack of proper recognition of Community Based Organisations (CBOs) by

Local Authorities (LAs) and Financial Institutions 1.6 Housing Finance

Government is being involved as a player in superstructure provision The macro-economic situation has become a headache in housing

1.7 Urban Management Issues Failure by LAs to prioritise core-business activities. Lack of political will and mixed signals on the part of central government to

decentralise power. Non adherence to statutes and ministerial edicts leads to poor performance in

most LAs. The procedure for formulating and reviewing policies and procedures is weak.

Local government does not respond well on time – delivery dates (e.g. when a budget is submitted to the Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development (MLGUD) by LAs – no feedback is given to LAs.

The Conference made a number of recommendations respectively summarized here as: 1.8 Spatial Planning and land Development

Use non-statutory planning frameworks such as city development strategies and development frameworks parallel to the preparation of master and local plans to expedite land delivery for low cost housing

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A one-stop-shop concept in plan preparation and approval process Decentralise plan approval process, where time period for layout preparation

and approval processes should be set out Introduce deemed approval

1.9 Development procedures Create a special purpose vehicle by establishing a one-stop-shop for plan

approvals Provide for deemed approval All councils should develop standard housing plans Develop local authoirty capacity

1.10 Housing policy and Allied statutes Government should consider revamping the housing strategy to include other

types of housing Incremental development may be a solution The provision of communal services of water and toilets should be considered

1.11 Land Development and finance

There is need for clarity on roles for all involved in housing delivery. Depoliticize land allocation Adhere to land transfer regulations Stakeholders should accept community based approaches to housing

especially groups. Lobby and advocate for recognition CBO approaches.

1.12 Housing Finance

Government should focus on facilitating the participation of LAs, communities and the private sector

The macro-economic situation needs address Encourage self-financing mechanism through self-help schemes

1.13 Urban Management Issues De-concentration and devolution of power to appropriate levels to reduce

bureaucracy and rigidity in urban management is required. General urban development standards and policies should be reviewed. LAs to focus and prioritise their core business – service provision and

maintenance of services to satisfy residents. LAs to remain accountable to the residents/citizens at all times.

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2. THE PROJECT 2.1 Structure of BHSCT, Mission, Vision The BULAWAYO HOME SEEKERS CONSORTIUM (BHSCT) was formed in 2005 in Bulawayo, as a Private Voluntary Organization (PVO) under the Ministry of Social Welfare representing various housing organizations, companies, civil service and individuals. BHSCT pursues the following objectives:

To facilitate access to affordable housing by all homeless especially the low income home seekers.

To enhance the technical and self organization capacity of home seekers. To facilitate home seekers access to alternative financing schemes and

mechanisms and to addressing issues that may negatively affect their ability to respond to housing opportunities.

To strengthen the ability of home seekers to influence policy change in their favor.

2.2 Operations and Membership issues, Membership of BHSC includes all individual members of the various organizations forming the consortium who are beneficiaries and prospective beneficiaries of housing stands. There are no restrictions as to the number of members who constitute the BHSC at any given time. Currently, this stands at 3 165.

2.3 Background of Membership. The beneficiaries of the various housing organizations, companies, civil service and individuals. During the tumultuous years especially between 2006 to 2009, it was virtually impossible to compared Zimbabwe income levels to their regional counterparts. This owing to hyperinflation that exceeded the quintillion percent mark in November of 2008. Currently, the economy has fairly stabilized and civil servants for example are earning an average of US$150 per month. Comparatively, the commercial rates for serviced 200m² stands about US$3 000 cash price. Such a Civil servant would be required to make exceptional sacrifices for them to accrue enough savings to buy the land. 2.4 Project Site Area The Cowdray Park Extension Housing project is located on the north western fringes of the Cowdray Park High Density Residential area – to the West of the City of Bulawayo. Cowdray Park suburb was developed in the late 70s and is serviced by mostly tarred roads and some gravel service roads, a railway line, piped water, sewer, electricity and other social amenities. The New Extension is not. At the inception of the project in 2005, there existed only Physical Planning Survey, and Urban Planning drawings, showing the development proposals in terms of

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Figure 1 Map of the Greater Bulawayo area. Cowdray Park is in the Northeast. Source: Google maps

roads, individual stands, Commercial as well as other Social and Administrative allocations. The land had been surveyed physically and pegged, but that aside, there was no other infrastructure. In the turmoil of Operation Murambatsvina, the Central government undertook to resettle most of the affected households in this part of the city under ‘Operation Hlalani Kuhle’. Under Hlalani Kuhle, the Government undertook to construct 700 (2 Bed-roomed) Core Houses, while about 7000 stands were allocated to the Self Help Scheme administered under BHSCT.

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Figure 2 Block map of the Cowdray Park extension area. Source: Authors

The Government supported the idea of coordinated self help incremental development. The 7000 stands for the Self help Scheme were/are allocated free of charge. The gist is that, from the onset, the money one would have spent on acquiring the land be immediately channeled towards infrastructure development and or on site building works. 2.5 TOTAL PROJECT COST Conventional project cost is estimated at US$20 million, whereas BHSCT hopes that by pursuing a number of alternative approaches, this should be brought down to about US$15 million. 2.6 PLAN OF ACTION BHSCT being solely funded by its members’ contributions has not set too lofty timetables for the realization of these infrastructural works, and as such, have undertaken to incrementally address the challenges of the community on critical priority basis. Some of the most pressing issues have been those of:

clean water supply; sewer, or alternative solid waste management mechanisms; Access routes and the associated infrastructure; Street lighting, Public amenities such as kindergarten, Primary Schools and Clinics, This then will be followed by the rest of the other requisite infrastructure on a

critical need basis.

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BHSCT infrastructural works, depending on their nature and size are undertaken through tenders to contractors, for such works as roads and major communal works, while for other forms of excavations, manual labour has often been sourced from the households of the beneficiaries. 2.7 Project quality control mechanisms BHSCT’s projections, though aspiring for green development, has progressed mostly on the path towards providing the same basic infrastructure as the conventional Housing processes would provide. These include Road network, piped (portable water, sewerage system and treatment. These infrastructure are being undertaken with support and supervision by specialists from the Bulawayo City Council, various government Ministries such as of Transport, Local Government and Urban Development, National Housing and Social Amenities, as well as other developmental partners such as the National University of Science and Technology (NUST). All infrastructural works are made to comply with the minimum requirements of the Local Authority. There have been exceptions nonetheless. This has mostly been the basic requirement for land to be fully serviced before occupation- Here, the approach has been that of Incremental Development, where families are developing their stands while they already occupy it. This has demanded that urgent and dynamic action be taken to prevent potential health and Environmental catastrophes. 3. PROJECT PROGRESS 3.1 The BHSCT’s activities and all construction works thus far have been funded solely from the member’s contributions. These funds are allocated between Administration and Project at the rate of 30:70. In their recent audit exercise, it was reported that membership currently stands at 3 165, contributing a total of US$74 351.14. The project faces financing constraints owing mostly to resources mobilization. The BHSCT projects are determined by Cash Budgeting. The Executive consults and makes project decisions based on accrued funds. This, they argue, will not exert too much pressure on the membership in terms of predetermined obligations. However, correspondingly, this has affected the rate of work on the ground, with members preferring to focus more their finances to on-site developments at the expense of the communal components of the work. Cash budgeting makes it more difficult to ensure equity on the members’ contributions as well as projecting work progress, and forward planning.

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3.2 COMMUNAL PROJECTS 3.2.1 Access Routes BHSCT is currently working on the clearing and opening up of access routes in order to enable public transport operators to service this area. About 8.4km of gravel road is under construction together with the associated bridges and culverts. This will connect this part of the City to the older Cowdray Park suburb.

Figure 3 A culvert recently constructed on the main road. Source: Authors

Figure 4 Main road recently opened up. Source: Authors

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3.2.2 Sewer System Sewer system is currently under construction. The work is proceeding in phases, the first of which is about 75% complete. This has involved the excavation of the trenches, laying of the piping and manhole rings.

Figure 5 Part of the community involved excavation of the trenches Source: Authors

Community members contributed to infrastructural development in both cash and kind.

Figure 6 One of the finished manholes Source: Authors

3.2.3 Communal piped water System BHSCT has procured and laid a three communal water points for the provision of safe water for domestic use.

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Figure 7 One of the Communal water points Source: Authors

It is hoped that as funds become more available, more communal water points will be availed, and eventually individually connected to households. Currently, the maximum radius to a water point is about 800m, whereas a tolerable maximum would be 500m.7. This presents a potential hazard, as this may encourage families to use unsafe water as an alternative to walking long distances. Studies carried out by water specialists at NUST established that the water table in the Cowdray Park Extension area is barely 5m below ground level.

7 Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards, Chapter 2. Minimum Standards in Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion -

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Figure 8 One of the many shallow wells providing outdoor water to the community Source: Authors

The community is taking advantage of this available water resource for outdoor uses such as gardening and for building construction Research work is underway in conjunction with NUST to pursue possible ways to purify the water so that it can be used for indoor purposes. 3.2 INDIVIDUAL FAMILY PROJECTS Each of the 7000 stands under the administration of BHSCT, represent at least a potential member. Currently, the 3 165 membership represents about 45% of the community potential and individual family units are at various stages of completion, though most of them are already occupied. The stand sizes are on average 200m² - 25mx8m. This generally dictates the building configuration. Bulawayo local Authority does not permit construction of more than single story structures in high density areas as Cowdray Park.

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Figure 9 House plan type BB3A. The typical Plan configuration used by most of the community members are simple variants of the BB3 Type developed by the Bulawayo City Council customized to each of the concerned stands. The summary of its quantities and cost is as follows: WORK AMOUNT SUB-STRUCTURE 841.27 SUPERSTRUCTURE 3 789.93 ROOF COVERINGS 244.64 CAPENTRY AND JOINERY 334.64 METALWORK 292.00 PLUMBING 868.41 GLAZING 88.41 PAINTING 841.10 TOTAL COST OF MATERIALS $7 299.91

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Figure 10 Units at various stages of completion Source: Authors

A sizable proportion of the community is still not connected to the sewer system and is using pit latrines like one shown below. BHSCT are worried and are working together with NUST to explore possible ways of avoiding ground water contamination

Figure 11 One household unit, with a pit latrine in the foreground Source: Authors

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The principal building materials employed by locals are hollow concrete blocks and asbestos sheets on timber purlin roof. 4.0 COST COMPARISONS Options for low cost housing generally available these days in Bulawayo include: owner built, or rent-to-buy (on monthly installments) and their several variants.

A 200m² stand currently costs about US$3000 cash, or a 50% cash deposit, with the balance payable over 6 months or a US$500 cash deposit and 36 monthly installments of US$120.

To construct a BB3 type unit would mean this added to the basic costs as give in table 1, the generally expected cost that one may incur in cash payments would be $7 299.91+$3000= $10 229.91, the installments option would sum to $7 299.91+500+36(120)= $12 119.91

A 3 roomed Core-House is costing US$13 000, cash, or US$160 paid monthly

over 12 years which would sum to $160x12x12= $23 040 From these comparisons, it is possible to conclude that the option of building one’s own house is overall cheaper than to buy an already built one, and that the option of installment payments maybe more sustainable in the sense that for a low income earner, the payments will not strain much their monthly fiscals. 4.1 MERITS

Under the BHSCT run Self Help Scheme, an individual member is given a stand free of charge. The rest of their financial effort will be channeled towards developing their own unit, as well as contributions to Communal infrastructure.

Except where one has strong preferences, it would be more economic attractive to get a Stand for free, and then proceed to construct oneself their own house.

Most of the residents that the authors interacted with have a sense of ownership and pride about this project, which is a direct work of their own hands,

Whereas the authorities who ordinarily would provide these services will forgo a bit of dollars, it seems to lessen their burden that, that aspect of service delivery is delivered to the end user. There nonetheless will still be need for monitoring and supervision of the community carrying out these works for purposes of quality assurance.

Already the community oneness that this project has created among the

residents is to be appreciated. It seems to bring back that spirit of ubuntu in the community, and this is the root of nationhood.

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4.2 ASSOCIATED CHALLENGES While there are economic advantages, there are some immediate accompanying challenges that include:

Limited access to clean water supply, Potential of contamination of underground water because of the use of pit

latrines Difficult access to public transport network, Inescapable loads of dust and noise generated from the current

developmental activities, Threats of environmental degradation and deforestation, Inadequacy of public amenities, Almost a lifetime of financial commitment by all the residents, An approach as this requires simple commitment by all the members towards

the development of their infrastructure, whereas some members may be tempted to devote all their resources towards their own individual units.

Security threats encouraged by lack of street lighting at night, and seclusion for some of the stands in undeveloped areas.

4.3 STAKEHOLDERS, NEW PARTNERSHIPS, AND ASPIRATIONS Besides the Cowdray Park extension community and BHSCT, other stakeholders in this project include the Bulawayo City Council, and Government functionaries such as: the Ministries of Water Resources Management, Ministry of National Housing and Social Amenities, Ministry of Local Government and Urban Development, Ministry of Environment and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, and Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, among others. Whereas at the onset of this project it was mired in political controversy and reject by the Bulawayo City Council authority, the amount of work carried out just this far, has already won the project some sympathy from a number of sections. The Bulawayo City Council itself has reconciled itself to it and is now providing close assistance and supervision for a number of the construction processes taking place on site. The Ministries of Local Government and that of National Housing have been literary foster parents to this project though providing not much in terms of financial support.

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Figure 12 Bulawayo Metropolitan Province Governor Cain Mathema, at the Official launch of the Program in 2005

Source: Authors BHSCT has continued to solicit support on several fronts, including the National University of Science and Technology, with whom they have signed a Memorandum of Agreement for cooperation on all areas of expertise available at this University. Since this project primarily rests on the financial capability of its membership, this also is its major Achilles’ heel, thus a number of expectations and projects are often slow in maturing. BHSCT has made clear its wishes on a number of fronts for financial and technical support especially those that augment sustainable development in areas of Alternative Power Generation, Alternative Building Materials, Innovative Project Financing Mechanisms, and Water Resources Management Techniques

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4.4 LESSONS LEARNT AND RECOMMENDATIONS The BHSCT Self Help Housing Scheme and its modus operandus is a novelty in its own right on the Zimbabwean landscape. There have been other schemes but limited in scope, in which beneficiaries were given stands for free, these but were already serviced, and the Local Authority would then expect the individual to develop that stand within a period not exceeding one calendar year, failure of which it would be repossessed. Such schemes would have a 25 year payment plan for the land, but they were not that successful because of the financing mechanism for the servicing. The BHSCT led Scheme rests the responsibility of all the servicing requirements of the shoulders of the beneficiaries, who will then negotiate among themselves the best approaches and the most cost effective mechanisms for the development of that land. Interestingly, this same BHSCT led approach has had several reciprocations in the City of Harare. There unfortunately the process is tainted with much political trading and issues of security of tenure are worrisome, with threats of evictions often emanating from the political patrons. BHSCT as a mother body to several housing cooperatives, looking forward after the Cowdray Park Project, envisage expanding their areas of operations to beyond just the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, but as well beyond. The two proposals for such national expansion have been developed but none has yet been adopted, hinging on the successful completing of the Cowdray Park Project. These are as follows:

Figure 13 Option 1 – All national cooperatives feeding into one national executive

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Figure 14 Option 2- Regional cooperatives feed into one Regional or City wide executive, each of these feeding eventually into a national executive

5. CONCLUSION This paper has discussed the background to the formation of the BHSCT such as the Operations Murambatsvina and Hlalani Kuhle in the socio-economic context of the 2000-2009 decade in Zimbabwe. The theoretical and Zimbabwean housing policy frameworks were discussed and the various recommendations that culminated in or encouraged the development of the BHSCT Cowdray Park Extension Self Help Project. About 7000 unserviced stands were allocated to the jurisdiction of BHSCT, to develop infrastructure for the beneficiaries of the Operation Hlalani Kuhle initiative. About 45% of the stands have been taken up and are at various levels of development, as well as the broader community infrastructure such as the roads, sewer system and communal water supply. The communities continue to trudge on dogged by financial and technical challenges for which BHSCT continues to appeal for assistance from all quarters. BHSCT is geared towards developing or adopting alternative approaches to power generation, Alternative Building Materials, Innovative Project Financing Mechanisms, and Water Resources Management Techniques, and looks forward to expanding their operations all over Zimbabwe in the hope of assisting low income groups to have access to affordable, sustainable, decent housing.