A Bulawayo legislator has urged the government to come up with regulations to stop unplanned land occupations by religious organisations because some of them have become difficult to remove because they claim to belong to Churches for Economic Development.
Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe said his ministry was drawing up new Urban State Land Administration and Management Systems which should hopefully be ready by May.
Garwe said the government had imposed a moratorium on the allocation of urban State land on 12 June 2024 to allow the ministry to strengthen existing systems.
“The envisaged strengthened systems seek to curb land maladministration, close space for baronism as well as promoting environmental protection among other things,” the minister said. “The land allocation and servicing will therefore be informed by the new land administration system and shall prioritise the groups including the religious organisations.”
Emakhandeni-Luveve legislator Discent Bajila said the challenge of religious organisations occupying pieces of land at will is becoming bigger and is affecting numerous issues around community development.
“We have tried to engage these institutions but it gets difficult to get to the end because most of them end up saying they are occupying land at will because they belong to churches for Economic Development,” he said.
Q & A:
HON. BAJILA asked the Minister of Local Government and Public Works to inform the House on Government’s plans to allocate land to religious organisations to mitigate unplanned land occupations which result in environmental degradation.
THE MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (HON. GARWE): As the House may be aware, the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works imposed a
moratorium in the allocation of urban State land on the 12th June 2024 until further notice. The moratorium was put in place to allow the Ministry to strengthen existing and establish new Urban State land Administration and Management systems. The envisaged strengthened systems seek to curb land maladministration, close space for baronism as well as promoting environmental protection among other things. The land allocation and servicing will therefore be informed by the new land administration system and shall prioritise the groups including the religious organisations. I so submit.
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