NAMWALA COUNCIL TO UPGRADE SETTLEMENTS

NAMWALATown Council in Southern Province has resolved to improve unplanned settlements in the district.

Council Public Relations Officer, Bupe Kabuswe, told the Daily Nation that the process would be undertaken in collaboration with Medeem Zambia, a company specialised in professional land tenure documentation and mapping services.

This is pursuant to the provisions of the Urban and Regional Planning Act No.3 of 201 Part IV Section 30.

Ms Kabuswe said that the settlements targeted under the upgrade program were Mafutu, Chikwata, Cooperative, Showgrounds, Belina and Maseele.

She said that the council signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Medeem Zambia in February this year to undertake the exercise.

"The main objective of this MOU is to map unplanned settlements and provide services for land tenure in the district.

"The plan to upgrade informal settlements in some of the identified areas is aimed at ensuring orderliness in the built-up environment which translates into empowerments of the less privileged in Zambia to access land," Ms Kabuswe said.

She added that process would also see to it that all conflicts pertaining to land conflicts as well as boundary disputes were resolved.

Ms Kabuswe stated that the process would also help the local authority to adequately provide proper services to the people in an orderly manner.

"Services include creation of roads and garbage collection while seeing to it that there is improvement of sanitation in these areas.

“The local authority would like to emphasise that this process is not to grab land or misplace people but to empower them to access land," she said