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Relocate Tabata Dampo victims to the same area
2008-03-24 10:03:21
By Editor
As Tanzanians celebrated Easter, some 500 Dar es Salaam residents at Tabata Dampo were practically living in hell following the questionable demolition of 88 houses which was undertaken by the Ilala Municipal Council.
The whole affair is engulfed in an air of injustice, given the public reaction and that of senior government officials and politicians. It is a man-made calamity that should not have occurred.
That in an instant, it was possible to demolish 88 homes in obvious contravention of accepted rules reveals a power greater than the 500 victims lumped together, and it obviously smells of unbridled impunity.
The government has been quick to act by suspending the municipal director and forming a probe team, whose findings are due. Nevertheless, the important thing is to get to the bottom of the affair.
It is high time the impunity of government bureaucrats was dealt with once for all. The way the matter was handled, questions do arise as to how the alleged ownership of the contented plot was acquired, and why supersonic speed was manifested in the demolition process.
It has been the norm to simply transfer those, who in their course of duty, inflict a lot of suffering on people for reasons that cannot be justified. Tanzania of yesterday is not of today.
Time has come for exemplary penalties to be meted out on those who act irresponsibly at the cost of unwarranted displacement of families, who have saved for a lifetime to acquire the properties they have, only to see them go up in flames in an instant for reasons that are hard to ponder.
It is such bureaucrats who are giving the government a bad name. In the Tabata Dampo case, it is prudent that the whole dark side of the affair is exposed, that the investigations should not only single out some culprits and leave out the others.
So far, no one has publicly suggested that the evicted tenants should be allowed to rebuild their homes in the same plot. It is easier to allocate another plot, for the sake of public interest, to the alleged owner than to have 88 families move to a new place altogether.
Such an action will go a long way to heal wounds and also teach a lesson to anyone who might have mishandled the matter for reasons that are not easy to understand.
We should not allow a few people to tarnish the image of local governments and even national leaders.
Local governments have a giant task of spearheading development, and should in no way be entangled in energy and finance-wasting controversies that should not have been there in the first place.
Finally, we call upon city planners and surveyors to undertake their work in the spirit of good service to the public.
For too long, people have complained of double plot allocations and unfair displacement.
We urge the relevant ministers to take to task erring functionaries who are exposing their profession to ridicule.
By saying this, we are not advocating illegal occupation of land. We can only say that we have been drawn to comment on this controversy simply because it seems there is more to it than meets the eye can .
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