900 families to get land by 2011

NEARLY 900 families will be resettled on 1,6 million hectares of land by 2011, according to Minister of Lands and Resettlement, Alpheus !Naruseb.

!Naruseb said this when he opened a three-day planning session at Swakopmund on Monday. Lands and Resettlement officials are reviewing the past year’s performance and planning for the next three years.!Naruseb said his ministry has committed itself for the next three years to acquire 1,6 million hectares of land (534 000 ha a year), and resettle 888 families (296 per year) by 2011.He said the current selection criteria used to allocate farming units to successful applicants are ‘not addressing the plight of the previously disadvantaged’, and new criteria will be implemented soon.!Naruseb said the ministry also wants to issue 450 lease agreements to resettled farmers to empower them to take over the land, assuring that 50 per cent of resettlement farms would be rehabilitated by 2011. Post-settlement support will also be provided to all the beneficiaries for as long as the required resources are available, according to !Naruseb. He said the Ministry has signed an agreement with Agribank to extend loans to resettlement beneficiaries. It is expected that up to 3 000 beneficiaries will be assisted in developing their farm production.’I am happy that a lot of exemptions were issued in favour of previously disadvantaged Namibians to acquire farms under the Affirmative Action Programme being implemented by Agribank,’ said the Minister.To set the pace for the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Process, the Ministry recently adopted the internationally approved Balance Scorecard (BSC) approach as recommended by the Office of the Prime Minister. The BSC will assist the ministry to execute its plan to accelerate land reform and ensure a visible empowerment of targeted beneficiaries by 2011.adam @namibian. com.na