Govt secures 6, 000 ha for Gaborone expansion

MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer | Friday November 5, 2010 00:00

The land in question stretches from Ledumadumane towards Mmopane and the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. Negotiations are still underway with affected communities in Ledumadumane, who will be required to relocate to facilitate the various land uses.

Lands and Housing Minister Nonofo Molefhi told Mmegi on Tuesday that it was expected that the various processes necessary to acquire the 6,000 hectares would cost government P360 million.

'This is tribal land and while we do not pay for it, we will compensate those affected for the developments on the land, loss of income and other considerations. This is likely to involve about P60 million,' he said.

'There will also be a cost of relocation around where we will settle those affected. We have found another P300 million that will be used for this exercise, which includes servicing of plots in the area where they will be relocated.'

West represents the most trouble free direction for government to expand the nation's capital city, as other directions involve private landholders and tribal friction, slowing down the state's development plans. With Gaborone's population estimated at over 200,000 and all factors pointing to increasing industrialisation, the capital continually needs more land.

The 6,000 hectares in the west are thus a godsend to government and the Gaborone City Council (GCC), which stopped maintaining a waiting list for the SHHA Programme in 2006 due to unavailability of plots. The Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) also abandoned its waiting lists for both rental and sale due to high demand, while the city fathers' 24-year development plan stresses the need for 'vertical' use of space, mixed use development and optimal use of space.

Despite the abandonment of the waiting lists, by last year it was estimated that up to 84,000 people were in need of land in the city.

However, Molefhi said from the 6,000 hectares, further expansion of Gaborone would not be an immediate priority.

'Our vision is to do layouts in adjacent villages - not just in Gaborone - invest in those areas. We want to develop these areas alongside urban centres and eventually freeze urban development, while intensifying developments in these other areas.

'We will allow the private sector to come forward with value adding proposals that are affordable. We will make land available for private sector development; maybe just virgin land,' said the minister.

A lands and housing official 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.'

Molefhi also 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 envisaged expansion will benefit residents in villages such as Mogoditshane, Ramotswa, Tlokweng and Mochudi.