Mwanza tops in Malata Subsidy execution—Muluzi
Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Atupele Muluzi has hailed Mwanza District Council for the implementation of Decent and Affordable Housing Scheme Programme (Dahsp) popularly known as Malata and Cement subsidy programme.
On Saturday, the minister, accompanied by officials from his ministry and the council, inspected some of the houses built under the programme.
Under Dahsp, which is a pet project of President Peter Mutharika, 80 houses—comprising 75 under the subsidy programme in which the beneficiary is contributing K460 000 and five grant-aided houses—are being built in the country’s 193 constituencies.
“So far here in Mwanza Central and Mwanza West, we have noted that the programme has achieved a success rate of over 80 percent,” said Muluzi.
He said their visit gave them an opportunity to identify some of the teething challenges encountered in the implementation of the programme so that in the next phase they are solved.
During the visit, Muluzi said, they noted that the type of cement used and the mixture is affecting the quality of the buildings, stressing that this is one area they have to address.
Mwanza district commissioner Jack Ngulube said the programme is a success, adding that 97 percent of the houses on loans have been completed.
A beneficiary of grant-aided house, Melesiya Magondolo, who is in her 70s, said owning a house is a dream come true.
“The house I was living in nearly collapsed on me. I could have been dead by now,” said Magondolo of Nikisi Village in the district. n
