Delivery of serviced land is one of the major challenges that this country continues to face. There appears to be no solution for the problem in sight.
Scores of Batswana have been on the waiting lists of the Land Boards, Department of Lands and other government agencies charged with the responsibility to deliver residential, industrial and commercial plots for far too many decades now.
Some people applied for residential plots more than 20 years ago and are to date still waiting to be allocated plots.
The problem is not only rampant at the Land Boards. It is spread across all the sectors that are responsible for the delivery of serviced land.
Unavailability of serviced land is no doubt impeding the country’s economic development.
It is further negatively impacting the quality of lives of many Batswana since shelter is a basic commodity.
Failure by the relevant authorities to deliver serviced land is also brewing corruption as evidenced in the growing number of land scam cases.
The situation on the ground is abhorable. It is breeding corruption as some elements within our society have resorted to cutting corners in order to gain access to land for either residential or commercial activities. For many officials, sale of land has become a very lucrative business.
We are concerned that the government serviced land delivery process is to say the least very slow. It does not look like it will be improving any time soon.
If one has to wait for more than 20 years to be allocated a residential plot, the chances are that by the time such an allocation is made, the person’s age is way above what he qualifies to access as a loan to develop the land. It goes without saying that many die while still waiting for such deliveries.
If one applies for a residential plot at the age of 25, and at age 45 is not yet allocated the plot, the chances are that when they approach a bank for a housing loan at the time of allocation, they would be told that the kind of loan they are able to access is limited to a term not exceeding 10 years based on the fact that they nearing retirement age. That is if they are lucky to be still engaged in any meaningful employment.
On the other hand, government would have given them limited period not exceeding two years in which to have made the necessary developments.
Common economic sense dictates that it is best to access long term loans at an early age so that by the time you reach retirement age, the loans would have been liquidated or nearing liquidation.
Failure by the relevant authorities to timeously deliver serviced land is a serious cause for concern. It breeds too many societal ills like squatting and corruption.
We should not in any anyway be misunderstood or misconstrued to be condoning these societal ills. To the contrary, we totally abhor them. We are simply compelled to mention them because we are aware that government failure to deliver this important commodity has led some elements within our society to cut corners and commit those social ills.
Government has also been on occasion forced to unleash the ‘yellow monster’ to demolish squatter settlements. When government is forced to take such drastic measures against its own people, we immediately raise our alarm bells to the fact that ours is a heartless government.
It is our firm belief that government does not marvel at demolishing the squatter settlements. It is a hard decision, but then the fact of the matter is that government wants a properly coordinated plots allocation system which will allow it to deliver other services like water, sewerage, electricity and other social services in a properly coordinated manner.
In the same token, people have resorted to squatting not because they like it. Failure by the relevant authorities to deliver serviced land has occasionally forced the distraught land seekers to resort to squatting. They do so out of desperation and helplessness. For most of the time they know they are breaking the law but then look around for options which do not exist.
Given the prevailing circumstances, we implore the Minister of Lands and Housing, Lebonaamang Mokalake, to intensify his serviced land drive.
Shelter is basic human right and it is therefore imperative for government to ensure that it intensifies its efforts in ensuring speedy delivery of serviced land to its citizens.
Most Batswana are too poor to afford to buy plots in posh areas like Phakalane and Gaborone North as well as Molapo Estates in Francistown. They are nonetheless entitled to be allocated their own plots. Rented accommodation in towns and peri-urban areas is equally unaffordable to ordinary Batswana who earn meager salaries.
It is the responsibility of government to ensure that it delivers serviced land to its citizenry expeditiously.
We are concerned that government drive in the delivery of serviced land is to say the least sloppy.
In the same vein, we urge the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Kenneth Matambo to ensure that in his next budget, the Ministry of Lands gets his projects prioritization attention.
The Ministry of Lands certainly needs a huge development budget to attend to the serviced land delivery programme.
