Videocrux - Victims of Zimbabwe blitz struggle to build houses

#Videocrux - Victims of Zimbabwe blitz struggle to build houses Victims of Zimbabwe blitz struggle to build houses
In May 2005 the regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe demolished informal housing and razed whole neighbourhoods, upending the lives of a huge number of the urban poor. To this day, many of them are still without homes, living in harsh conditions made event more abject by the country's economic straits.
Authorities destroyed slums near Harare in 2005
The nightmare began four years ago when Zimbabwe government officials destroyed the houses of the urban poor who were living in the suburbs of of Harare.
Operation Restore Order brought tsunami for many
In the space of three months in 2005, 700,000 people were evicted without warning. The government called it Operation Murambatsvina, or Operation Restore Order, and said it was cleaning up slum areas and cracking down on illegal housing and businesses. Some also call it "Zimbabwe's tsunami" because it swept clean the areas so fast that people had no time to save their belongings.
Millions of dollars lost during displacement
The total loss for the displaced is thought to be worth millions of dollars. A huge sum of money in a country where two-thirds of the population survive on less than one dollar a day. John Chitawa is one of the lucky ones. The government built him a four-room house in exchange. There's no running water or electricity so living conditions are still difficult but John is resigned to his fate.
Authorites working to provide shelter to people
Now that the opposition has joined a national unity government, officials are trying to find a solution. Fidelis Mashu, Housing Minister, member of Morgan Tsvangirai's party saying "Our country estimates is about two million people who require accommodation and we are making frantic effots to be able to cater for those. We are aware that if we do not act with speed we are going to have problems of slums appearing or mushrooming." But it's slow-going. Zimbabwe's economy is still in tatters and so far the government has only been able to afford to build 4,000 homes.

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