15 Aug 2019

Exorbitant land servicing costs have made it imperative for Botswana to introspect and see if it is sustainable to continue servicing land for free.

 Speaking at a press briefing August 14 after a two-day land symposium, Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services minister Mr Kefentse Mzwinila  said currently about P125 000 was needed to service one residential plot.

He said this was a mammoth task as costs could run into billions and as a result the pace of servicing land continued to hamper the allocation of land.

“This has in turn brought about many complaints from the public on the slowness of the land allocation process,” he said.

He said the national waiting list for land allocation now stood at 600 000 and that complaints regarding that were growing each day.

Stressing the need for national dialogue on the subject, Mr Mzwinila linked the problem to water scarcity in the country, saying aridity made land servicing all the more difficult.

Minister Mzwinila said the idea of allocating land unserviced  was being considered however noting that it would not fully address the situation as the land would still need to be serviced eventually.

On another issue, the minister said the symposium had adopted a couple of resolutions, one of which was that it should be held bi-annually.

Further, he said it was resolved that government owned unutilised and under-utilised land should be accounted for by respective ministries.

In addition, he said the symposium had resolved to enhance community based natural resources management (CBNRM) organisations so that they would have a national footprint and not be confined to certain areas such as the Chobe region.

Mr Mzwinila informed the media that the just-ended Parliament sitting had approved changes to the National Land Policy by effecting  changes such as bestowing on married persons the right to be individually allocated plots whereas previously people married in community of property were treated as one and could not each be allocated a plot.

He said the amendment meant that every Motswana was now entitled to be allocated land regardless of their marital status.

Commenting, Botswana Association of Tribal Land Authorities (BATLA) president Mr David Modisagape said the ministry was committed to ensuring that resources were distributed equitably for the benefit of all Batswana. Ends