DUNDUMWEZI EVICTION SHOCKER

... as 20,000 set to be evicted following government orders to remove illegal settlers from forest reserves

MORE than 20,000 people in Dundumwezi are on the verge of being rendered homeless after the Forestry Department gave them marching orders for allegedly encroaching on a forest reserve.

This follows a government directive to the forestry department to evict people living in forest reserves because of rampant enchroachment.

Ministry of Lands Public Relations Officer Diniwe Zulu confirmed the development and said the ministry was aware of many forest reserves which were under threat due to illegal occupation and had made a decision that the situation must be arrested by evicting people living in such places.

But Dundumwezi Member of Parliament Edgar Sing’ombe has protested the impending eviction of the more than 20,000 people from an area where they are said to be encroaching on a forest reserve but ironically also has government schools and health centres.

Thousands of people in Dundumwezi have been given up to September 30, 2018 to raze their structures and vacate the forest reserve peacefully or face the wrath of the law for encroachment, contrary to the laws of Zambia.

According to the eviction notice dated August 17, 2018 issued by district forestry officer in Kalomo, people in Bilili ward have encroached on Kalomo Hills local forestry No. P13 and have since been ordered to cease all their activities, demolish illegal structures they have built and leave.

But speaking to the Daily

Nation yesterday, Mr. Sing’ombe said it was sad that people in his constituency were now facing eviction when the government had built structures such as schools and health facilities for them, adding that such a decision had huge repercussions which he doubted if government had taken into account before coming up with such a decision.

“Evicting people from the area is not the best idea. There are over 20, 000 people who have settled there. That area has 10 polling stations and you can imagine the population of such a rural setup. Government has built schools and health facilities. Right now, we have about three telecommunication towers in the area. “What will the government do with all these facilities? Is it then accepting that it also contributed to the illegality? I think somewhere somehow, the government was not well advised over the move and should have consulted widely before threatening to evict people,” Mr. Sing’ombe said.

He said since last week when the eviction letters were distributed to people, service delivery in his constituency had suffered irreparable damage as some civil servants were reluctant to execute their duties because they had already been told that their workstations would be a thing of the past because a demolition exercise was on the horizon.