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2,800 villagers ordered to move out...
2006-05-31 08:02:16
By Selina Ilunga, PST, Makete
The government has ordered about 704 families comprising over 2,800 individuals out of a village within Kitulo National Park in Makete District, Iringa Region.
Iringa Regional Commissioner, Jaka Mwambi on Monday ordered about 704 households of Kikondo village to shift to Mfumbi village, saying the former hamlet was not only a water catchment but was also located within Kitulo National Park.
Addressing the villagers, who have been residing in the hamlet for generations, the RC said they would not have an option but to move to a new settlement and there will be no momentary compensation whatsoever.
’You are cultivating and grazing your livestock at a water source, a situation that can affect the supply of water to the village and the national park,’ he said.
He said the directive was not new, as the area district commissioner had informed them earlier about the government’s decision to relocate them.
’The DC directed you to move out as soon as the harvesting season was over early in the year. I am now giving you one more month to leave or else you will be forcefully evicted,’ he said.
The RC said about 11 families encroached the park in 1963, and their population had grown to about 704 households, with a population of over 2,800.
The 11 households were compensated in 1963 and ordered out of the park but never left, he said.
The RC said each household would only get a surveyed plot to settle on at Mfumbi.
He said he had given instructions to the land office in the region to have the plots for villagers in Mfumbi ready by next month.
Regarding title deeds, which Kikondo villagers had acquired, the RC said the documents were null and void as they were issued on a protected land, which belongs to the state.
He said the land officials who issued the title deeds made a mistake and should be punished.
Makete District Commissioner Osmund Kapinga said the Land Department in the district had started surveying plots for the new village.
’The land use plan indicates that there will be residential areas, areas for conducting agricultural activities, livestock grazing and others for provision of social services like schools and hospitals,’ he said.
However, some residents wanted to know the fate of their school-going children, as there are no schools in the new village site.
Tanzania National Parks through Kitulo National Park have pledged to build primary and secondary schools for the villagers but they must be prepared to contribute for the construction in kind, he said.
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