Epworth Local Board says it has drawn up plans to relocate about 16,000 households settled on ecologically sensitive wetlands and unzoned land.
Speaking on the sidelines of a full council meeting held at the local authority’s offices on Thursday, town secretary Wilton Mhanda said the board has launched an enumeration exercise targeting the affected households while awaiting central government approval of its master plan to free up space for orderly relocation.
Mhanda said the council is currently discouraging further construction of illegal structures on wetlands and unzoned land.
“We have about plus or minus 16 000 households on wetlands or unplanned areas,” Mhanda said.
“Currently, what we are doing is to discourage any further development on wetlands or on unplanned areas.
“We have enumerated those people who have been settling on those wetlands for quite some time.
“What we are looking forward to is the approval of our Master Plan so that we can create space to relocate them from wetlands or any other unplanned areas.”
Mhanda warned home-seekers against dealing with illegal land developers, commonly known as land barons, who prey on vulnerable residents through fraudulent land sales.
He added that the Epworth Local Board remains the sole legal authority empowered to administer and allocate housing land within its area of jurisdiction.
More: The Herald
