THE National Housing Corporation (NHC) has begun demolishing its 16 flats in Dar es Salaam’s Kariakoo area to pave the way for implementation of a joint venture project with private companies worth 271bn/-.

In the demolition work that started recently, a total of six flats have already been demolished after NHC partners obtained construction permits from Ilala Municipal Council and relocated the former tenants.

On January 29 this year, NHC signed contracts with the partners in front of Minister of Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development Jerry Silaa at NHC offices in Dar es Salaam for the construction of modern residential and commercial buildings.

Muungano Saguya, NHC Public Relations and Communication Manager, told this paper yesterday that as soon as the partners get permits for the remaining 10 flats, they will start demolition of the buildings after giving the tenants a one-month notice to prepare to relocate.

He said that there was no conflict between NHC and the former tenants of the demolished flats because they had discussed the matter and agreed on notice period.

"According to the law, if you want to construct a building, you are obliged to apply for a permit from the relevant authority and show the type of building you want to build and only after getting the permit can you start the demolition exercise to implement your project," he said.

He said that all the tenants who occupied the flats have no complaints as they had agreed that they will be given priority to return to the buildings once they are completed within two or three years.

"We agreed with our tenants that before the project gets a construction permit, they will continue to stay in our buildings but when the permit is issued, they are given an additional one month to prepare to leave the area and when that grace period ends, the partner can start demolition to implement the project," he said.

Speaking at the signing ceremony of the agreement on January 29 this year, minister Silaa commended NHC for the major reforms made as the construction is expected to increase the number of tenants from the current 190 to 2,011.

He said that there are 72 houses in the project areas but after construction, the number will increase to 225 which is three and half times the number of houses.

Director General of NHC Hamad Abdalah Hamad said construction activities were expected to start immediately after the 16 buildings were demolished because the issue of tenants was already resolved.

He said the project is expected to have a total of 2,011 tenants (1,258 shops and 753 residential houses) compared to the current number of 190 tenants (118 shops and 72 residential houses).