By POTIPHER TEMBO –

THE scramble for land in Zambia has resulted in deforestation in many parts of the country and the Government is urging people looking for land for development to be considerate in the preservation of forests.
But as the population grows, there is nothing much the Government can do but offer more land to the people both for farming and construction of houses and business structures.
However, what has been saddening is that the issue of land has become a thorn in the flesh of many as political and party cadres have crossed the line by becoming the people who are demarcating and illegally selling land to desperate residents across the nation.
There are citizens who want to have a share of the national cake by legally wanting to acquire land for residential and commercial development but normal procedure of achieving this has quite been a hustle.
In Ndola on the Copperbelt, looking in all  the directions of the city, land seems to be finishing except for  scattered small portions remaining.
Many residents in Ndola, like in many other towns, have been constructing small houses at their back yards known as cabins, or better still, bobas, for their expanding families to occupy. Others have constructed these structures which they rent out as the shortage of houses grow and many residents are eager to move in these ‘houses’ to solve their accommodation problems.
Because of this, residents have been appealing to the Government and councils to provide them with land for them to construct houses in order to decongest the residential areas they live in.
As land is quickly running out, the residents in Ndola have identified land in Chifubu, Kaniki and Mishikishi,  which they say is ideal for residential and commercial development and have appealed for the release and degazzetting of these areas.
The communities of Kaniki,Chifubu, Kawama and Pamodzi townships have since formed an organistion known as Kaniki, Chifubu Development Project (KCDP) through which they air their views  concerning  development.
During a meeting in Ndola with the Ministry of Lands Deputy Minister, Dorothy Kawandami who is also Chifubu Member of Parliament (MP) recently, KCDP chairperson Hendrix Mufaya said for the past three years, the communities of Ndola, particulary Chifubu, Kawama , Pamodzi and Kaniki have been lobbying for  land and they had submitted the matter which has been a subject  of great development interest to hundreds of community members from the time  it was conceived by KCDP and the community in 2012 to the NCC.
Dr Mufaya said upon advice from the Forestry Department, KCDP submitted the matter to NCC full council meeting.
“This was after extensive consultations with various stakeholders which included ZAFFICO, Forestry Department, NCC, and the Ministry of Lands among others and all these gave strong support and solidarity and have given us full encouragement to pursue the issue,” said Dr Mufaya.
He said ZAFFICO advised his organistion to take the case to Forestry Department as the custodians of the said land who also appreciated the initiative.
Dr Mufaya explained that at one of the community meetings, the Ndola District Commissioner (DC) Rebby Chanda commended the initiative undertaken by the residents and informed KCDP that the entire district and provincial administration was in support of the idea.
The KCDP officials and some members, met Ms Kawandami to discuss the issue of the Chifubu, Kaniki and Mishikishi land which falls in her constituency.
Besides the land, the meeting told Ms Kawandami about other developmental projects KCDP and the community was lobbying for as being the construction of the road to link Chifubu directly to Kaniki, a bridge between Chifubu and Mitengo area and another bridge between Chifubu and Pamodzi townships and the construction of a secondary school in Kaniki.
Dr Mufaya said if the land was released and degazetted, it would offer opportunities to many citizens to acquire land and own shelter.
He said this would also make land available for infrastructure development for ultra-modern market and open trade with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), construction of district and general hospitals which do not exist in Ndola and the construction of a secondary school in Kaniki.
Dr Mufaya hinted that the other benefits that would result if land was released and degazetted would be commercial development such as shopping malls, service stations, utility companies and social amenities.
A member of the community, Blackson Tanga said there was great need for the construction of the road to link Kaniki and Chifubu because many people from these areas had to walk long distances to reach their destinations because they had to go round when it would only be taking them a short time if the road was to be made available.
Mr Tanga said motorists from Chifubu and those from Kaniki were to go through Hill crest and Kansenshi to get to get to their destinations when there was a short cut to get either to Chifubu or Kaniki.
“We appeal to the Government to consider putting up the road to link Chifubu and Kaniki. The construction of the road would also help to reduce crime in the area as many people using foot paths are attacked when going to their destinations,” said Mr Tanga.
He was echoed by KCDP vice secretary. Cliff Kafuko who said even motorists would reduce on burning fuel as they have to drive twice the distance to reach Kaniki from Chifubu or vice versa.
“The construction of a direct road between Chifubu and Kaniki would ease the burden of transport costs and minimise the risk and safety for people who have to walk the distance through the plantation,” said Mr Kafuko.
Dr Mufaya added that security situation would generally improve as plantations between residential areas become hiding places for criminals.
“The infrastructure, commercial and residential development would bring social and economic prosperity as it would create employment, increase revenue to NCC and other utility or service organisations such as ZESCO, Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company,” he said.
Ms Kawandami said she liked the idea the KCDP had mooted and agreed with the community that the land in question had been vacant and idle for a long time while the population was increasing.
But Ms Kawandami lamented that deforestations was a big problem which the government was facing as people who were looking for land carelessly cut down trees.
“The idea of people wanting land for residential and commercial development is very good and this is how the voices of people are heard. The population is growing and we need to find shelter for the people. Since you have gone to all the stakeholders including the Ministry of Lands and the NCC, I will follow it up and I will get back to you. There must be a way forward,” said Ms Kawandami.
She said the Government was aware about the need to link Chifubu, Kaniki and Mitengo and also about the need for the construction of the bridge to cut down on expenses and for people to have easy access to the areas.
“These projects gobble a lot of funds and we have to deal with them stage by stage. The NCC already has plans to put up a bridge between Chifubu and Mitengo,” said Ms Kawandami.
However, Ms Kawandami advised that while there was need for them to acquire land, they also needed to be considerate about the preservation of trees.
“As we demand for land for residential purposes, we should bear in mind about deforestation. We need to be considerate and preserve trees because there has been too much deforestation which has badly affected our climate pattern,” said Ms Kawandami.
The people who attended the meeting were hopeful that the government would consider releasing the land between Chifubu, Kaniki and Mishikishi to the residents who were in dire need for it.
What would be important would be for the right channels to be followed and not let the political and party cadres to be in charge of demarcating and selling of the land exorbitantly like it has been happening in many parts of the country in recent times.
The KCDP officials and the residents in surrounding Chifubu, Kawama, Pamodzi and Kaniki told Ms Kawandami that what they expected was for the land to be surrendered to the NCC who would later demarcate it accordingly to the residents who needed it in normal channels.