Gov�t secures over P11m for Gabs expansion

Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday March 6, 2015 15:39

The minister of Land and Housing Prince Maele on Tuesday told Parliament that they were still searching for additional land around towns and major settlements.

“Our commitment is to ensure that, as much as possible we preserve fertile agriculture land in the process of land acquisition. This process will support growth point strategy referred to earlier on,” he said.

Government allocated P85 million for the acquisition of 5 570 hectares of Kweneng tribal land in 2011, for incorporation into Gaborone, as part of the expansion.

Government had already secured P300 million for the cost of relocation of affected villagers, which included servicing of plots in that year. Gaborone’s population is estimated at 231.626 in the June 2012 census. More than 84 000 people are on the land waiting list.

The minister admitted in Parliament that work was ongoing at Hukuntsi and Gaborone Block 7 and 8, to cover a total of 6,536 plots.  He said research had shown that the west represented the best direction for government to expand the city, as other areas were marred by tribal frictions and had many private landholders, which slowed down developments.  In 2010, the Ministry of Lands and Housing acquired 6 000 hectares of tribal land on the western outskirts of Gaborone for the expansion of Gaborone, an exercise that cost P360 million. At the time, the Minister, Nonofho Molefi said those affected by the expansion would be compensated.

He stressed that the west was the best direction for government to expand Gaborone towards, since other areas were marred by tribal friction and had many private landholders, a situation which slowed down the state’s development plans.

The Ministry of Lands and Housing officials explained the policy shift thus: “Gaborone should not just keep on expanding outwards where it will keep on eating up adjacent villages.

The focus should be on servicing land in those villages and attracting the private sector there.” He said.

Meanwhile, Maele stressed that focus would shift away from Gaborone’s expansion. “We are reviewing the private sector participation guidelines and we have decided that in future, we are not going to draw tribal land and incorporate it into urban centre developments,” he said.

The Ministry of Lands had also facilitated acquisition of land and property to pave way for implementation of national projects for example, the Tonota/Francistown road, where 43 residential and five commercial properties had to be relocated.