05 Jul 2018

Tawana Land Board has appealed to plot owners, who have not developed their plots, to come forward and identify them for the smooth implementation of the plot numbering exercise.

The land board’s senior public relations officer, Mr Mogabe Famu told BOPA in an interview that they were experiencing some challenges with the exercise, which the land board has embarked on as the next component of the Land Administration Procedures Capacity and Systems (LAPCAS) project.

One of the objectives of LAPCAS is to map all plots across the country, register all land rights, resolve current land problems, assign each plot a unique plot number and make unclaimed land available for allocation.

Mr Famu said the plot numbering exercise commenced last month, but they had already experienced challenges as some people had neither developed nor pegged their plots, making it difficult for land board officials to put up the plot numbers.

“We experienced some challenges at New Disana as there was no demarcation nor corner poles to identify the allocated plots. It was only layout with few developments and we cannot fix the plot numbers,” he added.

He further stated that they had completed the exercise in areas of Boseja, Kubung, Boronyane and Old Disana.

He appealed to plot owners, who have not registered their plots and those who had registered but not developed, to contact the land board for assistance.

Through the registration exercise, he explained that the government wanted land boards to know which land had been allocated, to whom it had been allocated and for what purpose, so that land that had not been allocated could be identified for future allocations.

Mr Famu emphasised the importance of land registration and plot numbering, saying they had surveyed 74 937 in the whole Ngamiland District.

He said the surveyed plots include residential and commercial, adding that during the exercise, land board officials also conducted development inspections.

Mr Famu observed that during the inspections, it came to light that many people had developed their plots, while some were still open spaces, adding that some plot owners failed to turn up to verify their plots due to several reasons.

He said plot owners residing far from implementation areas, are advised to register at the nearest land board office.

He revealed that repossession of undeveloped plots was suspended under the Land Registration exercise with a view to encourage people to come forth and ensure a successful exercise. ENDS