14 Aug 2019

Government will give priority to locals in the allocation of the remaining concessions areas under Tawana Land Board.

In an interview, Tawana Land Board chairperson, Mr Emanuel Dube said the board would consult with communities in concession areas.

Mr Dube however said challenges were likely to be experienced as some concession agreements were coming to an end and had to be renewed.

Further, he said the Ministry of Land, Sanitation and Water Services was in the process of standardising the concession leases.
 

The land board, he said, would work with stakeholders such as the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) in delivering its mandate.

On other issues, Mr Dube said the land board had completed a study on water points.

As a result, he said borehole allocations had been suspended since 2011 to enable the making of a database for existing boreholes as well as to help address shortage of land for boreholes.

The land board would engage stakeholders and communities on the findings of study prior to implementation, he said..

Mr Dube revealed that the land board had considered public concerns and reduced the distance between livestock water points from eight to two kilometers.

Regarding residential plots allocations in Maun, Mr Dube said the land board was in the process of acquiring ploughing fields in the village and surrounding areas to address the backlog which dated back to 2006.

At least 24 000 people were on the plot waiting list in Maun, he said. Mr Dube said another challenge facing the board was the mushrooming of illegal occupants which had compelled it to conduct a profiling exercise on the squatters.

He however said the squatters   were still to be engaged before a decision could be taken to evict them. ENDS