By JOHN KOMBE
Sitting tenants of land donated to the council by Chief BundaBunda in Chongwe will receive government paid land titles as a way of incorporating the villagers in the development of a 5, 000 hectares piece of land, Chongwe municipal council mayor, Christopher Habeenzu has said.
In an interview, Mr. Habeenzu said that the villagers that reside in the said area will not be displaced in the process of modernisng the area.
He acknowledged that the local authority did not fully engage the residents in the area at the beginning of the undertaking and hence the misunderstanding.
He was reacting to some concerns by residents who alleged that the council would displace all the villagers to pave way for the pending developments.
He however said that the traditional leadership and the residents have since been engaged and all stakeholders were now happy.
He said that the land which was situated off the greatest road was earlier advertised and the council was now scritinising the applications.
He therefore appealed to the residents and applicants to be calm as the local authority does the ground work.
He said that the land which is earmarked for housing and commercial plots will not be used as a tool to victimize anyone.
Local people, he said, were the custodians of the land and as such will not be left out in the development.
He said that the New Dawn government was committed to fulfill its promise of empowering the local people with land and would not in any way disadvantage them.
He disclosed that all the sitting tenants in the area will be given land titles at the cost of the local authority.
He stressed that the local authority’s goal of creating a smart city and an economic zone was meant to add value to the piece of land. He said that this will further create employment and business opportunities for the local people.
Meanwhile, some residents appealed to the local authority not to temper with the size of their existing traditional plots.
A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity said that some surveyors who had been to the area hinted that some portions of land would be cut off from those who had huge chunks of land.
He was however relieved that the council had assured them that no such thing would happen.
He therefore pleaded with the local authority to stick to its promise.
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