What’s the rush with Forest 27 demolition, asks Mpombo
WHY is the Minister of
Local Government and Rural Development in a hurry to demolish the houses in the degazetted Forest 27 before a full report of what transpired was given of the study of what happened, veteran politician George Mpombo has asked.
Dr Mpombo said people would love to know what the minister’s interest in demolishing the structures was when his colleague the Minister of Lands who is in charge of land issues clearly indicated that there would be no demolition before the status report of what exactly had happened was out.
He suggested that if there were issues of planning and building permits, the council has been dealing with such and solutions can be found other than demolitions.
“There are better ways of resolving such issues with the councils like making them pay a penalty for defiling the law,” he said.
Local Government and Rural Development Minister Garry Nkombo has maintained that the government would demolish structures illegally constructed in Forest 27.
Mr Nkombo made this clear when he officiated at the launch of the Urban Planning and Housing Observatory Symposium in Lusaka on December 27, 2021.
He also said that in a quest to promote sanity in the country, the government would demolish all structures built on undesignated land.
But Dr Mpombo said that there was need for the government to be coordinated in the way they functioned because having one say on an issue and another say on another would cause confusion in the way they functioned.
He said if the Ministry of Lands which was the custodians of land said that they were not in a hurry to take any action before a thorough investigation then there was no need for a line ministry to try and oppose that stance.