GOVT URGED TO SURVEY LAND BEFORE INVIING INVESTORS
Morogoro. The Government has been urged to survey and issue Certificates of Customary Rights of Occupancy (CCRSs) of land to villagers before welcoming investors to land-based investments or projects.
Speaking to The Citizen during a task force’s fifth meeting on land use planning held here yesterday, the program coordinator of Ujamaa Community Resource Team (UCRT) Mr Jamboi Baramayegu said yesterday that the government’s industrialization drive would be well achieved if the investment areas would have land use planning.
He also noted that the ongoing land based conflicts between villagers and investors would be a history if the areas would be surveyed and the CCROs issued to the villagers.
“Before we welcome investors to investing in the country, I think the government should first make sure that all the areas are surveyed and the CCROs are issued to the villagers.
“The move will enable the villagers to know their land boundaries hence helping reduce land conflicts,” he said.
He added “As a citizen I always wish the best for the nation, but in my opinion, the industrialization drive will never be well achieved if the land is not surveyed,” he said.
He noted that the government was yet to fully prioritize the land sector, saying the sector faces a number of challenges including a shortage of funds to facilitate various land-based development initiatives.
“The land sector is yet to receive special treatment like the other sectors of health, industry and education, just to mention a few. However, the industrial sector directly involves land acquisition processes. Therefore, it is important to have land use planning in all parts of the country,” he said.
For her part, the land governance coordinator from Oxfam Tanzania, Ms Naomi Shadrack, said she was optimistic that proper land use planning would reduce land based conflicts between villagers and investors in the country.
She also called upon the government to prioritize the land sector, echoing that the nation would benefit from foreign land based investments if the areas were surveyed.
“Despite the fact that the government continues to work closely with the CSOs and NGOs to mitigate land conflicts, the land sector has never been the government’s top priority,” she said.
The task force on land use planning, involving officials from the National Land Use Planning Commission (NLUPC), representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) organized the meeting and today it will hand over a strategic plan on land use planning to the Land Minister, Mr William Lukuvi.
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