A dilemma has gripped the district administration in Luano district over the eviction order by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources for illegal settlers to vacate South Swaka Forest Reserve.
ZANIS reports that Luano District Commissioner Christopher Chibuye, says it is difficult for his administration to enforce the order because government has since provided infrastructure in various sectors for the over 850 affected squatters.
This came to light when Central Province Minister Sydney Mushanga, visited Luano district during his tour of government developmental projects.
Mr Chibuye revealed that government has already constructed schools, health facilities, boreholes and other social amenities for the people who have lived in the forest reserve for many years.
He wondered what government was going to do, not only with the people who would be evicted, but also with the established government institutions that would be abandoned in the Swaka Forest Reserve.
Mr Chibuye said government spent a lot of financial and human resources to construct the infrastructure and to provide the social amenities over a long period of time to the people who are now deemed to be illegal settlers in the forest reserve.
And Central Province Minister, Sydney Mushanga, acknowledged that such a move would result in wasting government resources.
Mr Mushanga however said he would engage his counterpart in the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources and appealed to the district administration to wait for guidance.
He said there was indeed need to involve all stakeholders and find an amicable solution to the problem.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has issued eviction notices to over 850 families in the south Swaka Forest Reserve where government has also constructed roads, schools, health facilities and agricultural camps among other social amenities for people in the same forest over a long period of time.
Chipantepante policies manifesting…
This is really shameful. Just shows that Lungu and his gang do not really know what they’re doing. They seem to be governing through trial and error. No evidence of either short term or long term planing. Just a sheer waste of the country’s meager resources. They all need to pay back the tax payer’s money they wasted here— from their own pockets. Such mediocre leadership. Shame on them.
To whom is Lands Minister selling Swaka Forest reserve?
So when government was constructing all that infrastructure they did not know that it was within the forest reserve? That is why it is important to get the necessary planning permission before building anything so you are correctly guided. Obviously technocrats were involved during the construction process and they should have known better.
When we say that sometimes the left hand does not know what the right hand is holding the guys in Government think we are just big mouths. How does the Ministry of lands issue a warrant of eviction to itself as a wing of the same Government. Is it not normal procedure that we first check with the ministry of lands before any construction of that magnitude is instituted? No wonder the white man almost took a walk to LSK on land matters.
When were the amenities built? Was ECL in power at the time?
It doesnt matter, what matters is that under Lungu, there is no cordination
Our allergy to good planning already killed an apex medical student because someone gave Apex owners land just next a MILITARY firing range! This is shameful to say the least. Are we ever serious?
@LIE-DETECTOR. This is not ECL administration problem alone but something that has accumulated over a long period. I bet from KK days. what a shame.
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Just give the infrastructure to the forestry department so that they can have their officers there where they should be. The squatters should be evicted to set an example to others.
By the time Jean Kapata leaves the Ministry of Land there will be more internally displaced persons. She has gone on a rampage