Source: Land barons given ultimatum to vacate wetlands | Herald (Top Stories)
Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent
LAND and space barons continuing to invade wetlands, greenways and areas reserved for national development in and around Harare will be removed, the new illegal structures will be demolished and the barons and invaders will be arrested.
Those taking up land from the land barons wrongly assume that they will be able to be regularised, but the land that is now being invaded cannot be regularised. The latest surge of invasions of wetlands and greenways includes internationally recognised Monavale vlei and also spaces in and around Mbare suburb in Harare that are earmarked for urban renewal development projects.
Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Harare Metropolitan province Mr Tafadzwa Muguti said those invading and settling wetlands must move or risk having their properties demolished.
The office of the Minister of State for Harare Provincial Affairs and Devolution had already established a provincial taskforce comprising the Environmental Management Agency, the police, City of Harare, Chitungwiza Municipality and Ruwa and Epworth Local Boards to address the menace of land barons.
“There has been a resurgence of land invasions by land barons in Harare Metropolitan Province with land invasions taking place in most of our wetlands and land earmarked for development projects,” he said.
“Recently, land barons invaded the Monavale vlei which is one of the world acclaimed Ramsar sites.
“In Mbare, land earmarked for the Mbare urban renewal development project of housing complexes and commercial buildings was invaded by space barons who took advantage of the delay in the approval of building permits by the City of Harare.
“The invasions across the province are largely influenced by the false belief that land invaders will be regularised by the Government under the ongoing land regularisation programme. The office of the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution has therefore established a provincial taskforce to address the menace of land barons.”
Mr Muguti said the taskforce will remove all illegal land invaders, demolish illegal structures and arrest all land invaders as well as the land barons responsible for selling land illegally.
He said it is important for Harare residents to note that the province has a zero tolerance policy on corruption and lawlessness.
“We have noticed that people have gone into the wetlands and in particular they have now invaded the most preserved wetlands, the Monavale vlei which is protected under the Convention on Wetlands (1971), which Zimbabwe is a signatory to. Apart from that, Monavale vlei is part of the Manyame catchment area and it plays a huge part in terms of the water supply in Harare Metropolitan province”, Mr Muguti said.
“We have also noticed that in Mbare we have space barons who have taken it upon themselves to occupy land reserved for the Mbare urban renewal project which is a project which was launched by the Government to build apartments and commercial working areas like vending stalls and other places where traders can actually be able to do business. That project has slowed down largely because of the delay in the issuing of building permits by the city council.”
Mr Muguti said the space and land barons were illegally building tuck shops and infrastructure on the invaded lands where bigger national projects should be constructed.
“We urge residents of Harare Metropolitan province to respect the law, wetlands and sites which are reserved for national development projects and initiatives,” he said.