Southern province minister assures the Poor of access to Land

Southern province minister, Edify Hamukale has called for patience among the Livingstone residents who were left out in the sale of land by The Livingstone City Council (LCC) last week.

Dr. Hamukale says government has made available 1000 hectares of land which is strictly meant to benefit the low income residents.

He regretted that the council had not considered the poor when they sold land; a situation he said only benefited those with high income.

Dr. Hamukale notes that the conduct by the LCC was not in line with government’s pro-poor policy and as such he was prompted to request President Edgar Lungu to instruct the local authority to allocate more land.

And Dr.Hamukale has encouraged the council to ensure there is transparency in the allocation of the said land.

The provincial minister also wants the local authority to ensure residents are given plots at a rate which they can pay for according to their income brackets.

Recently, the city council sold nine hundred plots which they advertised five years ago against the over 2000 applicants from Livingstone and beyond.