Simbachawene calls for quick review of Dar Master Plan

The Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), George Simbachawene, has stressed on the need for swift measures to review the Dar es Salaam City Master Plan for the city’s development to rein in on unnecessary disputes between the government and residents.

 

He made the remarks when speaking in Dar es Salaam over the weekend at a two-day annual general meeting of Tanzania Institution of Valuers and Estate Agents (TIVEA) which involved land officers, property managers and estate agents.

 

He described Dar es Salaam as one of the fastest growing cities in the country; hence the need to have a master plan in place was important. The minister also warned public officials who were fuelling land disputes in the country.

 

Simbachawene urged public officials to adhere to professionalism when executing their duties, saying: “This will help in ending the ongoing land disputes in their areas of jurisdiction.”

 

For his part, TIVEA president Linus Kinyondo suggested the need for a national dialogue involving all key players such as government, livestock keepers, farmers, professionals and experts on land to come up with a sustainable solution in future.

 

He supported the government idea of seizing dormant plots whose owners (investors) failed to develop them, saying such pieces of land should be given to citizens with the capacity of developing them or utilized by the government for other purposes.

 

Kinyondo said that selling and developing of residential and commercial buildings should be done by professional agents registered under specific laws as it was done in developed countries, saying the purpose was to ensure the government was collecting deserved taxes and controlling money laundry. “In our country the process of leasing and selling buildings is done by unregistered people. This is due to lack of a law regulating the business...this is something that needs immediate action,” he said.

 

Kinyondo used the platform to ask the Prime Minister to form a new National Council of Professional Surveyors which expired three years ago, explaining that working without the council delayed implementation within the institution.