10 Dec 2014

The Minister of Lands and Housing, Mr Prince Maele has told Parliament that there are portions of commercial land in Francistown that are lying undeveloped since they were allocated.

Mr Maele said there were 64 in total and that they were situated in various areas around Francistown and the ministry had already initiated the process of repossessing the 64 plots with a view to allocating them to potential developers.

However, he said he could not be certain about the expected date of re allocation of such plots because the outcomes of repossession would differ from one allottee to the other. He said some might decide to contest the repossession through the courts while others might plead through appeals to the ministry and these might take time to resolve.

He said it was important for people to note that there is no waiting list for commercial plots as these are allocated through open tender as and when they become available.

MP for Francistown East Mr Buti Billy had asked the minister whether he was aware that Francistown had many land parcels that have been lying idle and undeveloped for many years particularly commercial plots in local centres.

He had also asked what the government was doing about this and how soon progress could be expected in that regard given that the waiting list and demand for such plots was very high. ENDS