Harare,(New Ziana)- The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) has received at least 152 applications from developers seeking authority to develop wetlands as well as proposals for subdivisions from the City of Harare, an official said Monday.
Appearing before the Climate Change Thematic Committee of Parliament , EMA acting director general Christopher Mushava said the applications show that citizens now understand the implications of making unapproved developments on wetlands.
“It is quite a huge number and these applications include Environmental Impact Assessment applications by the developers and proposed subdivisions or change of land use applications by the City and the department of spatial planning. To us it is a positive that at least now we are communicating in our city. As EMA, once we receive that application we go on site and do verification and physical check,” he said.
Speaking at the same meeting, the Harare City Council said more than 144 sites have been invaded by land barons resulting in the city going to the courts for recourse.
“Basically these were sites invaded by land barons and cooperatives. And the route that we are taking, we think they can be regularized, because 144 are then the applications that came for regularization,” said Admond Nhekairo, City of Harare director of housing and community services.
He said land barons were not stopping there, but were using the courts to frustrate city’s efforts to regularize misnomers.
“There is now a tendency of some of these invaders, what I can call lawfare, where they quickly rush to the courts with dirty hands and apply for, say, spoliation orders, where they seek to regain what they feel they are being dispossessed in terms of that piece of land. And we will be in courts for two years. Meanwhile, developments will be taking shape. When council finally wins its case, we now take restorative action to ensure that whatever has been done wrongly is rectified,” he said.
“This is the challenge that we are having, but when I spoke of 144 sites invaded, I was basically talking of the preponderance by land barons to take occupation of municipal land illegally,” he added.
New Ziana
