Land servicing waiver pushes plot allocation
Mompati Tlhankane | Tuesday February 14, 2023 06:00
Government has previously revealed that the pace of servicing land continued to hamper allocations. Inflated land servicing costs which lead to delays forced the government to introspect and a waiver was made to continue allocating land even before servicing. Even after the waiver still, the government’s worry about allocating unserviced land was that it would not fully address the situation as the land would still need to be serviced eventually. The government has always linked the problem to water scarcity in the country, saying aridity made land servicing all the more difficult.
In an interview with this publication this week, BATLA president Johane Chenjekwa said the noticeable increase in plot allocations across all Land Boards in the past year was as a result of the waiver among others. “While it is desirable that land should be serviced before allocation, the process of servicing land naturally slows down the allocation of land because of the time taken to construct and/or install infrastructure that constitutes land servicing such as tarred roads, water and sewage pipes, electricity lines and stormwater drainage systems,” he said. Furthermore, Chenjekwa pointed out that such land servicing presents an enormous financial challenge to government because full land servicing that includes the above-mentioned services is estimated to cost about P180,000 to P190,000 per plot.
Last week, the Minister of Finance Peggy Serame revealed in her 2023 Budget Speech that a small portion of the proposed development budget will cater for land servicing projects at Gantsi, Palapye Extension 10, Maun CBD, Mmopane Block 1, Kasane Plateau, Morwa, Pilane, Ntshinoge, Boseja, Letlhakane, Sowa Block 3 and Metsimotlhabe. The money is part of the largest share of the proposed Development Budget which goes to the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs amounting to P6.07 billion. Serame also disclosed that there will be an increase in the revenue support grant for Councils and Land Boards at P407.4 million and additional costs of upgrading Sub District Councils and Sub Land Boards to fully-fledged Councils and Land Boards at P319.26 million, something that BATLA also welcomes with open arms. The Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs’ proposed budget allocation amounts to P1 billion and part of the funds are also intended to cover personal emoluments following the upgrading of Sub Land Boards to fully-ledged Land Boards. “The upgrading of Sub Land Boards will improve and expedite overall service delivery to Batswana including access to land since the new dispensation will devolve decision-making and augment resources at the respective upgraded Sub Land Boards. This budget provision is a welcome development as it is in line with the Government Decentralisation Policy which BATLA has always advocated,” Chenjekwa added.
He acknowledged that although BATLA is yet to familiarise itself with the resource needs for which the budget has been allocated, the budget provision is a start in the right direction.