A TOTAL of 4,565 land disputes were resolved in the 2023/24 financial year largely on account of deploying mobile land clinics in a countrywide campaign, the government has stated.

Jerry Silaa, the Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister made this observation when presenting budget estimates for the 2024/25 financial year pegged at 171.3bn/- in the National Assembly yesterday.

The government is determined to ensure that chronic and routine land disputes need to be resolved so that people live freely and conduct economic activities unhampered, he said, affirming that during the outgoing financial year, the government approved 191 applications for 11,613 hectares of land from local and foreign investors.

The Treasury handed the ministry an additional 287.66bn/- to its original estimates to pay debts of bidders, employees and contractors, he specified, elaborating that 178.57bn/- is needed to move people from game reserves and water sources to other areas which are suitable for settlements.

During fiscal 2023/24 people in six areas were compensated at a total of 20.1bn/- to move out of their places, the minister noted, affirming that the government set aside 478 square kilometers of land from the Ruaha National Park to be parcelled out to evicted people.

He urged that open spaces be protected from invasions so that they are used for public purposes as playgrounds and recreation spaces, specifying that 249,340 plots and 7,559 farms were valued and approved during the year.

Priorities for the next financial year include strengthening resolution mechanisms on land conflicts and increasing the pace of surveying plots, he said, emphasizing that the government was keen on eradicating land disputes as they affect lives and impede economic progress.

Information and communication technology (ICT) systems will be boosted in record keeping, service delivery and access to land information, plus strengthening the land disputes resolution mechanism, he said, also pointing at speeding up land use planning, surveys and provision of title deeds, increasing efficiency in levy collections and taxes by mobile phone applications.

“The ultimate goal is to cut on the demand for houses in urban areas,” he stated, citing tasks entrusted to the National Housing Corporation (NHC) to construct affordable housing under the ‘Samia Housing Scheme'.

This is chiefly targeting Dar es Salaam Region, where construction in Kawe area on the northern outskirts of the city has reached 35 percent, set for completion before the new fiscal year ends, he added.