22 Dec 2014

Rolong Land Board chairperson, Mr Ogone Molema has said land boards are faced with unprecedented land applications from residents.

Speaking during the chairman's ball recently, Mr Molema said they had about 5 194 applicants on the waiting list and out of that, 4 000 applied for different land use in Good Hope in 2007 only.

He said the recent stampede in Oodi where thousands thronged the land board premises to apply for plots was a clear indication of land demand in Botswana. He said many residents were in dire need of land for shelter and other land developments such as business purposes and agricultural use.

Mr Molema said their land board once experienced a similar situation during in 2006 and 2007 when they had about 185 plots to be allocated at Pitsane West. 
He said most people thronged their premises and some even spent the night in their premises prompting the management to cancel the allocation.

Meanwhile, Mr Molema said in their area they serve about 31 villages which are almost within the same vicinities with a distance difference of few kilometres but people choose to apply for plots in overfilled areas such as Goodhope.

Mr Molema also noted that other challenges that the landboard face is that of applicants refusing to be allocated plots on areas that they have not applied for. He said they have observed that most allocated plots are undeveloped.

He further said they had about 114 business plots and so far they have managed to allocate 71 plots but still most of them are still undeveloped hence causing delay in generating income and to add salt to the injury they end up failing to pay the land service levy which he said the arrears owned stood at P 4 million.

He urged the communities to desist from selling land and advised them to resort to lease rental. He said at times people abandon the plots for a long time and end up allocating it to another people resulting in land dispute.

Mr Molema said they still have a problem with some of their records and said they are working around the clock to upgrade records keeping systems for easy accessibility.

In a bid to address land ownership problem in the district, Mr Molema said they have resolved to collaborate with the communities to assist them locate undeveloped plot owners, adding that they have also liaised with dikgosi, district commissioner’s office and other authorities to educate and inform the public about landboard procedures.

He said land interventions such as Land Administration Procedures Capacity and Systems (LAPCAS) will serve as an opportunity to introspect and embark on a robust programme of action to address land ownership in the country.

He said although government has established LAPCAS to get to the bottom of landownership crisis, the mission could not be accomplished by the initiative alone hence the collaboration from dikgosi to encourage morafe to register for LAPCAS.

He said although they had planned to have surveyed 12 226 plots by end of 2014, they managed to survey 10 256 and only 5 110 have come forward to honour their land rights claim.

When presenting the best performing staff with presents, Kgosikgolo Lotlaamoreng II lauded them for the hard work displayed in performing their daily duties when serving the nation.
He implored them to continue working hard in executing their duties to meet customer needs.

The employees were awarded with certificates of appreciation for good performance. Ends