06 May 2015

Lands minister, Mr Prince Maele, has warned residents of Serowe against looming plot purchases and sales as a result of expansion of Palapye, which is experiencing huge growth.

He revealed that many foreigners purchased land from unsuspecting Batswana, whom he described as having realised very late the importance of land.

Mr Maele warned that plot-buying-moguls, who are usually well-off foreigners, would soon descend on Serowe soils where they might trick or even lure some residents to sell their plots.

Already, there were 77 plots transferred from last year and Minister Maele was concerned at the development. He cited that from last, year over 600 plots were transferred in Palapye and revealed that majority of those selling were youths.

Due to these statistics, Mr Maele premised his claim over looming rampant plot sales in Serowe.  He also anchored his argument on more Batswana thronging various land boards seeking plots on the fact that for a long time, many Batswana did not appreciate the value of land until when they started experiencing shortages of the natural resource.

The minister observed that plots with small rooms built at the end of the yards, were usually a red flag for imminent sale. He warned that his ministry was contemplating sidelining perpetrators of land sales for some time before they could consider them again for allocation.

He advised that those who could not afford to develop their plots should lease them or even erect traditional mud huts while awaiting modernity. While conceding that his ministry was overwhelmed with serious need for money to service land, the Minister warned of impending rampant plot repossessions as result of failure to develop within stipulated time. Ends