The government has urged home-seekers to be cautious when buying residential stands or houses to avoid falling victim to land barons and having their properties demolished.
National Housing and Social Amenities Minister Zhemu Soda urged buyers to make sure that land acquisition applications are legitimate.
He made these comments during a media session focused on improving communication between journalists and Cabinet ministers, facilitated by Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Minister Jenfan Muswere. Said Soda (via The Herald):
Whenever that is done irregularly, obviously the arm of the law will take its course. We want to encourage all home-seekers, despite their desperation, that the acquisition of stands and houses must be done properly.
Soda said the government is currently addressing the issue of regularising dysfunctional settlements that arose from previous irregular constructions.
These settlements were created by peple who built homes without adequate support services such as roads, schools, and shopping centres. He said:
We are grappling with that correction. We don’t want to repeat what happened previously.
Let us not construct where the stands would not have been acquired properly. Let’s desist from dealing with land barons. We must conduct thorough due diligence when acquiring land for construction.
More: Pindula News