Bostwana Maun hit by shortage of plot

Maun hit by shortage of plots SYLVIAH DISELE Correspondent Tawana Land Board (TLB) has announced it has only 620 available plots against a backlog of applications pegged at 30 600 in 2010. Briefing the media at Maun Lodge recently, sub-land board secretary Naledi Demasaid by March 1, 2012, the land board had indefinitely suspended applications and the allocation of new plots tofind more land and screen applications for eligibility. Dema said the TLB on average receives about 600applications every month forresidential plots. Some applications date as far backas 2000. In that year, the government relocated some residents from Botshabelo and Mabudutsa wards to give way to the expansion of the Maun airport and the construction of the bus and taxi ranks. The relocated residents were settled in Disaneng on plots that were apparently demarcated for new applicants. Although the Maun Revised Plan provides for more than 40 000 people comprising of 13 000 dwellings in the Maunplanning area by 2031, shortage of land is a hurdle.Maun is the second biggest village in Botswana with a population of 60 263 after Molepolole which is home to 66 466. In addition, Maun is the fourth-densely populated area in the country. Its population has increased by almost 17 000 in the past 10 years. Dema revealed that the land board has not been successful at convincing some owners of ploughing fields to surrender their fields to the board. "Some owners either turn us down while others complain about the little compensation paid by the land board," she said. Dema said the land board was disturbed by the emergence of squatter townsin Botshabelo and Boseja. She claimed that some of the squatters were relocated from Botshabelo but sold their plots in Disaneng.The TLB also announced that it was freezing the allocation of boreholes for a year to do a thorough feasibility study. Meanwhile, efforts to get the2011 and 2012 plot applications and allocations proved futile. Maun West MP Tawana Moremi was not available for comment at press time as his phone wasoff air. In 1971, Maun had a population of 9 614 which grew to 13 925 in 1981, an annual growth rate of 4.5 percent. By 1991, it had 26 769 people and in 2001 it was home to 43 776 people. Maun is the largest settlement in the Ngamiland district and is classified as aprimary centre in terms of the National Settlement Policy