By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Kitwe City Council have refuted the clams by some people the allegations that Kitwe Deputy Mayor Felix Malasha in collaboration with Council employees are illegally demarcating land.
KCC Public Relations Manager Chola Mwamba said that the story circulating on some of social media platforms alleging that the Mr Malasha in collaboration with Council employees are illegally demarcating the land belonging to Mindolo Secondary School is inaccurate.
Ms Mwamba said the Local Authority’s mandate to recommend allocation of land is not vested in an individual person but in the Council as a collective body.
She said the power to allocate and make offers to successful applicants is reposed in the Commissioner of Lands.
Ms Mwamba said the position is that on November 3, 2021, Council Committee on Planning and Information Management Systems (PIMS) considered applications for Regularisation of residential plots by citizens in Mindolo.
She said the applicants claimed that they had been taking care of the sites for years and some of them have been attempting to build but have been frequently stopped by the Local Authority.
Ms Mwamba said the committee observed that there was need to verify whether the said land and the land for Mindolo Secondary School which the Ministry of Education had requested the Council to help the school acquire title were not one and the same.
She said the committee felt there was need to further engage the Ministry of Works and Supply to advise on the school boundary before a decision could be made.
“The Committee recommended that the application be approved, subject to verification of the school boundary with Ministry of Works and Supply.
“Therefore, It is incorrect to single out an individual in a matter that came through a planning committee of several members,” she said.
Ms Mwamba said the Council has been receiving and will continue to receive applications for regularisation of land from members of the public in different areas of the City and the Council has been and will be approving or disapproving depending upon consultation and verification.
She has made an appeal to Mindolo residents to allow the Council to follow procedure and avoid unwarranted speculations.
