Giving the ultimatum during the laying of the foundation stone for the construction of 851 houses for civil servants at Mabwepande in Kinondoni District, the Minister for Works, Dr John Magufuli, said that 4,900 people had already paid.
"I call upon all those who haven't repaid the loan to do so within one month. Loan repayment default is an act of selfishness because the refund is used to build other houses,’’ he observed.
Dr Magufuli explained that according to current statistics, there is a shortage of three million houses, noting that loans were the fastest way of bridging the gap. He said timely repayment of such loans was vital for the success of the programme.
The annual demand for houses among the over 450,000 civil servants is 200,000 houses. More than 30,000 new employees are employed annually. Vice-President, Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal laid the foundation stone for the low-cost housing project, which would be built at Mabwepande in Bunju B, Kinondoni District.
Dr Magufuli announced that already 155 houses were at different stages of completion, where each house had been built at an average of 25m/- and that quality had been considered in their construction in terms of concrete in the foundation, 28 gauge iron sheets, hard wood doors and wide windows.
"These are part of the national project to construct 10,000 houses for civil servants. The task of designing, construction and supervision of the project is being done by TBA using their own experts," he said.
The minister informed the audience that there were already over 3,000 applications for the 2,500 houses that were planned to be built this financial year, where TBA will continue with the construction of other houses and plan to reach the 10,000 mark by 2016.
Dr Bilal concurred with Dr Magufuli on the importance of timely loan repayment, saying that with TBA being challenged with lack of adequate capital, it was very necessary that the loans are repaid on time.
The vice-president asked officials responsible to lend a hand by ensuring that employees with outstanding loans are deducted the amounts from their salaries.
"In yesteryears, Tanzanians were known to be scared of borrowing from financial institutions. In today's world, loans are a catalyst to effect quick changes. Both the public and private sectors need to make use of the opportunities available. But loan repayment is of paramount importance," he stressed.
Dr Bilal said that he was very happy with the work that TBA was doing in transforming the nation’s shelter provision scene, particularly on the new technologies and software that they were using, including building one storey a day, adding that they were moving towards the right direction.
The VP urged TBA and the Ministry of Works not to limit their efforts of building houses for civil servants in big cities alone, but to also venture in border districts as well as the new ones, hoping that it will help encourage people being posted to those areas.
The TBA Chief Executive Officer, Architect Elius Mwakalinga, said that for this year, the agency plans to build 1,400 houses in Dar es Salaam, the plan being to build 2,500 units in 12 other regions.
Architect Mwakalinga said that the houses will range from between 25m/- to 50m/- and that there were 16 different designs that include bungalows, cottages and high-rise buildings.
"Experience from the sale of Mbweni houses is that many people demolished the buildings and built afresh in accordance with their preferred plans. For these houses, one can buy them when half-finished and go and design them the way they want," he said.
The first phase distribution will involve the construction of 1,400 houses in Dar es Salam, 250 in Dodoma, 150 each for Mbeya and Mwanza, 150, 100 each for Arusha, Mtwara and Iringa and 50 each for Simiyu, Katavi and Geita. The agency has for the past ten years built about 1,043 houses.
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