- this is due to their flood-prone geographical locations
Habu and Tubu villages in the North-West District will not be expanded because of their flood-prone geographical locations where there is a high likelihood of property damage due to flooding, Parliament has been told.
Member of Parliament for Ngami, Philemon Aaron had recently asked the Minister if he was aware of a decree that was issued in 2010 to halt the allocation of plots in the two villages. Aaron also wanted to know if the minister would consider withdrawing this decree as it has caused serious issues in families where children and grandchildren are forced to live in one plot.
This as there has never been any allocations of plots in the villages in the past 15 years and the existing residents were relocated the higher ground following the 2010 floods.
Responding on behalf of Minister of Lands and Agriculture, Minister of Communications and Innovation, David Tshere said the conclusion not to expand Habu and Tubu was drawn and verified by preliminary findings of a desktop study conducted by the Botswana Geo-Science Institute.
He said given the recent experience and the prevailing environmental disasters caused by climate change and the fact that the villages were considered at risk, it was not advisable to direct the land board to lift the suspension.
However, Tshere said government was aware of the moratorium issued by the Tawana Land Board (TLB) in 2010 on plot allocations in Habu and Tubu villages following a recommendation by the District Land Use Planning Unit.
The minister said the built-up area of Tubu consisted of 205 plots of various land uses and the waiting list for residential plots was 137 while that for agricultural land was 138.
Tshere said the waiting list for Habu for residential plots was 75 while for agricultural land was 53, adding that applications for agricultural land were not being received. He said the total allocations in Habu totaled 292.
“I must further indicate that the moratorium did not include other villages, which do experience flooding on account of the severity,” said Tshere.
Additionally, Minister Tshere said most areas in the Okavango District were prone to flooding, but at different degrees. He said he was also aware that some infrastructure developments were provided in the village in the past 15 years, adding that the new developments were carried out within the built-up area and they included Community Constituency Project butchery in Habu and staff housing in Tubu.
