The people must learn from the ongoing demolitions

BY EDITOR

20th December 2015.

Editorial Cartoon

In what could be described as an abnormal incidence, Dar es Salaam city fathers have in the past two days engaged in demolition of hundreds of residential houses built on what are termed as hazardous areas.

The majority of houses which have been pulled down were built in Mkwajuni valley, in Kinondoni district, a lowland that stretches to Jangwani valley in the city.

Demolition of the structures is a continuation of the task that began immediately after President Dr John Magufuli took office early last month. It will be recalled that some posh houses were demolished in Mbezi Beach, Kinondoni district, for having been built too close to the seashore in apparent contravention of the law.

But some of the demolished houses in the area were either built along road reserves or on top of water infrastructure that supply water to city residents. However, some of the structures were pulled down after it was learnt that they were built in open spaces.
The demolitions, as usual, sparked outrage, first from the owners and, to some extent, from human rights activists as those who resided in them were left out in the open to brave the vagaries of the elements, some not knowing what to do.

Critics have this time around started blaming the government for carrying out the demolitions on the ground that the houses were not constructed yesterday.

According to the critics, some of the houses in the area were constructed in the 1970s, inferring that the government was supposed to have acted upon at that time.

However, on the flip side, supporters of the move point out that the area was restricted for human habitation by the government many years back due to the simple reason that the area was prone to floods during the rainy season and, secondly, the area acts as a water conduit to the Indian Ocean when it rains heavily.

Dar es Salaam is one of those cities in Africa whose residents construct houses without following set urban planning regulations and directives.

Failure to follow urban planning has seen some residents construct houses in restricted areas, only to incur huge losses when the government decides to clear them out, just like what  is now being witnessed in Mkwajuni valley.

Records show that Dar es Salaam city has a master plan which was drawn some decades back. Unfortunately, the plan has never been made public  - unless one decides to look for it at various government offices.

Conventional wisdom requires an individual to cross-check with land authorities before buying a particular piece of land. But experience shows gross omission of this requirement by the majority of the people, especially in urban areas.

Now that we have a new government that is committed to serving the public and sticking to the law, there is pressing need for the authorities to ensure that the people get easy access to land documents such as the Dar es Salaam master plan, land use plans( in villages) and relevant maps to avoid inconveniences in future.

On the other hand, the government should not just sit back and look on when it sees some people erecting structures in restricted areas, waiting with glee to pull them down at some convenient time.

SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY