16 Nov 2017

Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services, Mr Prince Maele told Parliament that the ministry is not considering any special dispensation for Sowa Township nor supplementary funds to undertake land servicing because the ministry has financial provisions for land servicing in Sowa.

Responding to a question from MP for Nata-Gweta, he said the ministry was aware that Sowa had the potential for growth and as a result, development plan drafting in 2014 by Sowa Town Council  was approved by the council’s Physical Planning Committee. Mr Maele noted that the plan was currently at draft stage and was yet to be considered by the ministry with a view to be approved by December 2017.

He said the growth was not determined by allocation of plots but by the uptake, which was low in Sowa Township as evidenced by 74 applications in the waiting list received as opposed to the expected 202 plots to be delivered by Block 3 project.

MP Majaga had asked the minister if he would consider declaring Sowa a town with special dispensation like land servicing by regulating supplementary funds from government to speed up land allocation and if he is aware that Sowa had a potential for growth because of availability of land, mining activities and tourism.

Mr Majaga also wanted to know if the minister was aware that Sowa growth was delayed by the ministry by not allocating plots to Batswana. BOPA