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Magufuli cautions land buyers against corrupt elements
2006-05-31 08:01:03
By Lydia Shekighenda
Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development, John Magufuli yesterday cautioned Tanzanians against corrupt and illegal land officers in the purchasing of plots.
The minister’s remarks follows increased cases of collusion by corrupt land officers and other people in the selling out of plots in Dar es Saalam and other parts of the country.
’Legal procedures must be followed to avoid being cheated and double allocations,’ said Magufuli at a press conference.
The minister said there were many plots which were vacant in the country, and appealed to Tanzanians to go for them, but should follow right procedures.
He said: ’People are losing their money because they want shortcuts.’
The minister, said there were over 7,000 unoccupied plots in Dar es Salaam, and thousands in upcountry regions, which await applications from potential buyers.
’We should purchase these plots legally rather than resort to unplanned or illegal plots,’he insisted.
The number of people living in urban areas has been increasing yearly, said Magufuli, adding that this has driven many of them to opt for unplanned settlements.
According to the country’s census of 1967 and 2002, about 5 and 23 per cent respectively of the entire population live in urban areas.
’This has made about 75 per cent of the population in urban areas to live in unplanned areas,’ he added.
The land ministry is still proceeding with identification of plots throughout the country to enable citizens to have legal ownership of their plots.
The minister, directed land officers to develop a new system aimed at issuing building permits early to prospective investors and developers.
’We need an arrangement to enable investors and other developers receive buildings permits as early as possible. No time for delays any more. These people wants to construct their houses earlier,’ he concluded.
Magufuli\’s reactions come amid a public outcry over unnecessary delays by land officers in district councils.
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