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E33M SPENT ON PLUSH LOZITHA VILLAGE

10/01/2021 09:29:00 BY MFANUKHONA NKAMBULE

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mfanukhona@times.co.sz

LOZITHA – Government spent E33 million on setting up a village for royal family members, the Times SUNDAY can reveal.

It is understood that an estimated sum of E10 million is needed to complete the project.

In total, it is expected that the project will cost E43 million (E43 062 000).

Records for actual expenditure ended March 31, 2019, government had spent E33 062 000.

It has been established that projects that could be financed with the additional E10 million include but not limited a shopping centre and school.

project

This newspaper was informed by reliable sources familiar with the project that the late former Hhohho Regional Administrator and Diplomat, Prince Tshekedi, owned a private school at Lozitha, which was demolished when the boundaries of Lozitha Palace were extended.

Impeccable sources said the prince was not compensated for the demolished school.

The Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for land and resettlement, estimated that an additional E10 million could be needed to ensure completion of the project.

Some residents of the village, which is informally called ‘MahlabaVille’, said there would be a need for government to install street lights, drainage system and a mini-stadium.

The residents, who are mainly members of the royal family, briefly addressed the issue on condition of anonymity. They said they did not want to jeopardise their negotiations with government as they were entitled to fair and adequate compensations, which should also take into account fertile land.

They said they did not want the resettlement to compromise the standard of living they enjoyed before the displacement.

A tarred road leading to the place village was constructed. A bridge was also built.

There are currently about 20 spacious houses of different sizes and designs, which government built for the resettled residents.

Bongani Masuku, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, said he could not provide details on the project as it bordered on personalities and sensitivities. He, however, confirmed that the project was not complete.

budget

He mentioned the need to construct a school whose owner he did not want to disclose. Masuku said they had requested for additional funding for the project, which he hoped the budget for the next financial year might accommodate it.

“We’ve asked for money to complete the Lozitha project, but I can’t give you detailed comment on the matter because we deal with personal compensations and sensitive stuff,” he said.

Princess Sikhanyiso, the Minister of Information, Communication and Technology, posted on August 19, 2020, on a website created in memory of Prince Tshekedi that he died before they could complete the school project. It is not clear if she was referring to the school, which government is expected to build for the prince.

“You left before we could bring those millions into the country, before we could erect those executive apartments, before we could complete the school project, and before we could host a commercial reed dance festival,” the princess wrote in her tribute to the prince who was regarded by many in the country and outside as humble, philanthropist, and man of integrity.

effects

It must be said that some resettlements had adverse effects in the country, one of which is the transfer of the people from the site where the King Mswati III International Airport was built. The people had fields they cultivated to produce food. Many of them are still unhappy with the houses built for them by government.

To illustrate their frustration, they hired the services of senior Mbabane based attorney Bongani Mdluli to demand on their behalf compensation in the sum of E80 million from the Eswatini Civil Aviation Authority (SWACAA).

The residents said a consultant recommended that they be given a sum of E73 million for the resettlement of 188 homes that fell within the airport city boundary.

Recalling the residents’ plight, Mdluli narrated in the letter that ever since the commencement of the project in 2001, the residents have had several meetings with SWACAA , particularly one which was held in May 2015 at Malindza chiefdom where SWACAA made an unequivocal undertaking that it would review the 2001/2002 Sikhuphe Resettlement Plan Report.

constraints

Government will also resettle certain residents of Manzana in Lobamba for an estimated budget of E55 million. The project has been deferred because of government’s financial constraints.

The Department for Land Use Planning, which is responsible for resettlement, had an estimated total budget of E341.7 million, from which E107 million had been utilised by March 31, 2019.

This department is responsible for promoting rational land use and the development of agricultural land and water resources, particularly on Eswatini Nation Land (SNL). It is composed of the following sections - land development, land use planning and irrigation development.

It must be said that the universally accepted principle of resettlement dictates that involuntary resettlement should be compensated fairly and adequately.

The European Bank for Reconstruction, which also finances some projects in Eswatini, says the one common element of all resettlements that take place is that they affect people and communities and the way they go about their daily lives.

The bank says resettlement usually means that people will need to move house or change how they earn their income – two life events which are generally recognised as very stressful, and even more so when they are forced upon them by factors outside of their control.

Therefore, the institution says the main focus of any resettlement and livelihood restoration programme has to remain firmly on those who are affected.

Meanwhile, the 2003 National Rural Resettlement Policy (NRRP) is not limited to resettlement; it also sets out a wide ranging policy framework related to the improvement and planning of land use, and in this respect enables improved food security.

The guiding vision of the NRRP is to establish a durable, practical and participatory framework for the planning and sustainable management of land, and the appropriate application of resettlement strategies in rural Eswatini, in order to increase agricultural production, promote the sustainable utilisation of natural resources and improve livelihoods. Related to the objectives that guide the overall vision of the NRRP, the policy defines eight policy principles.

These policy principles cover the following issues:

l Optimum and sustainable land use by rural communities;

l An appropriate choice of land management strategies and resettlement models;

l Sustained community participation and involvement;

l Transparent, orderly and legitimate land allocation;

l Fair, equitable and adequate compensation of persons affected by resettlement;

l An appropriate and effective legislation;

l Efficient management of land disputes;

l Sustained monitoring and evaluation ensured for all rural resettlement programmes;