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Magufuli intervenes in Kibamba land dispute
2008-01-18 09:29:41
By Angel Navuri
Residents of Dar es Salaam`s Kibamba suburb, who had earlier been ordered out of the area to pave the way for a settlement project belonging to the Lands, Housing and Human Settlement Development ministry, were yesterday told to hold on until further notice.
A statement to that effect was given by Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister John Magufuli, who had gone to the area to resolve the land dispute.
``I call upon Kibamba residents to continue living here until I rule on the matter. The time span given for shifting is too short as it does not give them enough time to build houses elsewhere,`` said Magufuli.
The minister said all would-be evicted house owners were entitled to a three-month notice and a 36-month rent equivalent that would help them survive while establishing alternative homes, a process that had been skipped.
Giving details, he said 25 per cent of Dar es Salaam residents live in surveyed areas while the rest are squatters.
``Telling the 75 per cent to move out without making proper arrangements for a smooth transition would be inhuman because they would have nowhere to go,`` said the minister.
He added that a total of 189 people had been compensated so far, adding that the ministry would sort out the dues of those who had been underpaid.
Magufuli directed Kinondoni Regional Police Commander Jamal Rwambow and the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau to investigate allegations that some people were compensated at inflated rates.
``Drastic action will be taken against such people because they are corrupt,`` he noted, adding that the government had set aside 600 plots at Kwembe for those to be evicted from Kibamba.
``The ministry has set aside 3bn/- as compensation money,`` he said.
The chairman of the Kibamba residents group, Chrizant Kibogoyo, said that they had gone to the extent of derailing the execution of the settlement project after realising that the compensation being paid was peanuts.
``We have blocked the plot surveying process until the ministry sorts out the mess,`` he explained, accusing some of the Lands ministry`s staff sent to carry out the exercise of demanding bribes on commission basis.
``Some house owners are paid far more than they are supposed to and some of the amount topped up is later given to land officers who have engineered the whole plan,`` he said.
Giving an example, he said people whose houses were worth 20m/- were paid as little as 7m/-, an amount that did not tally with the actual asset value.
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