THE Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, William Lukuvi, has called upon all district administrations in Kilimanjaro Region to identify land that for urban planning.
Mr Lukuvi made the remarks here on Tuesday while addressing Kilimanjaro Region district officials who included District Commissioners (DCs) together with other district officials, including land officers and those from the National Housing Corporation (NHC).
“There are some areas in rural areas where the lifestyle of the residents resembles that of people living in urban areas. Therefore I urge you to identify such areas so that I declare them as small satellite cities.
“I will declare them as new town planning areas, so that they could be surveyed and its owners issued with title deeds so that they can pay land rents and other land related taxes, a move which will also help avoid having an arbitrary settlement in the future,” he noted.
He also reminded the District Executive Directors (DEDs) that land planning and its utilization was the district administration’s responsibilities together with their respective local government authorities, saying that each district administration has a responsibility to oversee, plan, evaluate, and allocate land in their respective areas.
“I came to remind you that this is your responsibility, because you used to think that the ministry of land is responsible for all land related issues in your areas.
This is your responsibility; you (DEDs) are the ones to decide who will stay where and who will cultivate which land.
“Even those living in high-risk areas which are sometimes affected by floods wouldn’t be staying there and risk their lives if DEDs in those areas played their roles according to land planning regulations,” he said.
He also called upon district officials to co-operate with land officials who are assigned to their districts in order to facilitate their duties and that of the land sector in general within their areas.
“The land officers are not assigned to come and give you directives, it is you who will assign them what to do; use them well.
A well planned land will be allocated for use, where people will pay land rents and other land related taxes, and therefore increase government revenue,” he said.
He added that the value of land will also increase and those who will be allocated land will be issued with title deeds which they can use as collateral to acquire loans from financial institutions and improve their wellbeing.
