Govt buys 12 farms for N$132 mln
The price at which agricultural land is offered to the government remains a major challenge, land reform minister Utoni Nujoma says.
The ministry of land reform, in its efforts to ensure equitable distribution and access to land, bought 12 farms measuring a combined 69 633 hectares for N$132 million during the 2018/19 fiscal year.
A total of 13 families were resettled during the year under review, the minister of land reform, Utoni Nujoma, said in parliament on Monday when he motivated his ministry’s N$496 million budget allocation for 2019/20.
“Although several innovative approaches to acquire land under the current legal framework [willing buyer-willing seller] are being introduced, the amount of land that is eventually acquired still falls short of the current demand,” he said.
The ministry’s current financial position and the demand for land continue to have a negative impact on its overall performance, the minister said.
“Efforts to motivate for additional funding under the land reform programme, especially for land purchase, is a continuous discourse and engagement with the minister of finance and we will keep flagging the issue at appropriate fora,” he said.
Nujoma said the price at which agricultural land is offered to the government remains one of the challenges they face.
Support
As for post-settlement support, the ministry has been preoccupied with the rehabilitation of dilapidated farm infrastructure and has acquired 170 water units which are intended to benefit 132 families, Nujoma said.
During the 2018/19 financial year, the ministry issued 1 254 land tax assessments, generating N$16.6 million in land tax collection.
However, the ministry could not issue general tax assessments using the 2012 valuation roll due to a review case of the approval process which was due on 19 February 2019.
His ministry needs N$341 million to efficiently manage and administer land valuation and taxation regulations, he said.
A total of 1 423 land rights were registered, while 683 parcels were mapped, 3 257 were entered into the database and 1 292 village maps were displayed.
Meanwhile, 1 039 land rights were recorded and 1 037 certificates were issued.
From the lease agreements the government has entered into, N$49 263 was collected under resettlement leases, while N$170 111 was collected from communal area leaseholds. - Nampa
A total of 13 families were resettled during the year under review, the minister of land reform, Utoni Nujoma, said in parliament on Monday when he motivated his ministry’s N$496 million budget allocation for 2019/20.
“Although several innovative approaches to acquire land under the current legal framework [willing buyer-willing seller] are being introduced, the amount of land that is eventually acquired still falls short of the current demand,” he said.
The ministry’s current financial position and the demand for land continue to have a negative impact on its overall performance, the minister said.
“Efforts to motivate for additional funding under the land reform programme, especially for land purchase, is a continuous discourse and engagement with the minister of finance and we will keep flagging the issue at appropriate fora,” he said.
Nujoma said the price at which agricultural land is offered to the government remains one of the challenges they face.
Support
As for post-settlement support, the ministry has been preoccupied with the rehabilitation of dilapidated farm infrastructure and has acquired 170 water units which are intended to benefit 132 families, Nujoma said.
During the 2018/19 financial year, the ministry issued 1 254 land tax assessments, generating N$16.6 million in land tax collection.
However, the ministry could not issue general tax assessments using the 2012 valuation roll due to a review case of the approval process which was due on 19 February 2019.
His ministry needs N$341 million to efficiently manage and administer land valuation and taxation regulations, he said.
A total of 1 423 land rights were registered, while 683 parcels were mapped, 3 257 were entered into the database and 1 292 village maps were displayed.
Meanwhile, 1 039 land rights were recorded and 1 037 certificates were issued.
From the lease agreements the government has entered into, N$49 263 was collected under resettlement leases, while N$170 111 was collected from communal area leaseholds. - Nampa
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