Bukalo Village Council (BVC) chief executive Ntwala Lyamine-Sazita says the council has started paying out more than N$3 million to beneficiaries who have made land available for development.
She said this yesterday, adding that the council has already paid about 26 out of 39 beneficiaries since last February.
Meanwhile, the council is still busy with the verification process on the remainder of the beneficiaries.
Lyamine-Sazita said the compensation is for the land the council has acquired from villagers in the Mudaniko area in 2018.
“We still owed the villagers compensation, so we were unable to plan for much development. But now that these payments have been made successfully, we own the land and can begin to recruit investors to help us develop it.
“We can also draft our master plan, which will zone the land into areas for light industrial, business, and residential use. The villagers have three months to leave the land,” she said.
Lyamine-Sazita said the council would now strive to tackle the sewage challenges at the village to ensure villagers and investors operate in a hygienic environment. Ngambela Kamwi from the Masubia Traditional Authority yesterday commended the council’s efforts, as well as those of the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development to finalise the compensation process.
“Since they had pledged the land to the village council, the villagers were living in constant uncertainty as to whether they should build any permanent structures on their plots. However, with this compensation, they now know that the land is no longer theirs and they have to start their lives elsewhere,” he said.
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