Kitwe Council warns Illegal land developers
DEVELOPERS who are putting up structures on the disputed land near the Zambia Army Mawlaik Barrack in Kitwe will have their structures demolished because they are building without the council's planning permission,'' Town Clerk Mbulo Seke has warned.
And Mr Seke has disclosed that three council officers, two directors and one assistant director are facing disciplinary action over land related issues and inefficiency.
Responding to a query during a meeting to discuss inefficiency in the management of land and increasing cases of illegal allocation of land, Mr Seke said the council had recommended for the cancellation of the two plots which were not properly given out by the Ministry of Lands in Ndola. Mr Seke also said the developers who were constructing near the Mawlaik Barrack will have their structures demolished because they were building without the council's planning permission.
He said the penalty for any developer who was putting up a building without the council's planning permission was demolition of the same structure.
Mr Seke also said, in trying to bring sanity in the allocation of land in the city, the local authority had recommended for the cancellation of two plots on Chibuluma Road opposite the Kitwe Fire-Brigade and the one on Mama Monty Primary School in Chimwemwe Township.
Mr Seke said the council had recommended for the cancellation of the two plots because one of them was sitting on the school land which was a public property, while the other one was not properly given out by the Ministry of Lands in Ndola.
He said the recommendation to cancel the plots came after a meeting between the developers and the local authority following complaints from Nkana Water and Sewerage Company (NWSC) and the school management.
In the case of Chibuluma Road plots, Mr Seke said NWSC complained to the local authority that the plots were given to developers on a land where the water pipes for the water utility pass. While in the case of Mama Monty Primary School, the school management complained about the structures which were being constructed on the school land which was public property
"So after receiving the complaints from NWSC and the school management, we met the developers from the two areas and we recommended that their plots be cancelled because they were not properly given.
"For Chibuluma road plots, that is the land where water pipes for NWSC pass, while for Mama Monty land, that is public land and no one can be given a plot on a public land,'' he said.
And Mr Seke has disclosed that three council officers, two directors and one assistant director are facing disciplinary action over land related issues and inefficiency.
Mr Seke said the three council officers haD been served with charge letters so that they can exculpate themselves on why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.
"As a council, I think we are on course towards dealing with issues of inefficiency in the management of land and increasing cases of illegal allocation of land,'' he said.