08 Sep 2013

Registration of plots at Extension Two in Palapye has suffered a setback, says Palapye Sub-land Board secretary, Mr Boikago Maswabi.

Briefing councillors during Palapye Sub-council meeting, Mr Maswabi said the land board started the land registration rollout at Extension Two in August where it targeted to survey 1 500 plots per month, but only did 426 plots.

He said shortage of resources and surveyors led to the set back, but the land board intended engaging surveyors from other districts to assist in driving the project. Mr Maswabi noted that the land board tried to engage the services of surveyors from outside the country but did not meet the requirements, therefore the intention was to engage surveyors from other districts to assist in fast tracking the project.

He said the land board had managed to acquire more computers and surveying equipment necessary to drive the project. Extension Two area posed a challenge because there were no responses from plot owners as plots were occupied by tenants, he said. 

The systematic land registration project, he added, was aimed at having complete information on who owned what, where, and for what purpose. Furthermore, Mr Maswabi explained that the project entailed mapping all plots across the Palapye area of jurisdiction and registering all land rights in order to assign each plot a unique plot number and to make unclaimed land available for allocation.

He said land registration came after government realised that land allocated by dikgosi was not documented, therefore it was difficult to access land holders’ information. Moreover, Mr Maswabi said unreliable information on land ownership, land conflicts and difficulty in determining which land has been allocated and which is available for allocation posed a challenge.

Councillors were asked to inform the community to produce certificates of land allocation. Councillors gave the project a green light saying it would help resolve issues surrounding land allocation. Ends