Times Of Swaziland: OVER 2 000 HOMES LOSE LAND FOR E2BN PROJECT

OVER 2 000 HOMES LOSE LAND FOR E2BN PROJECT
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BY KWAZI MASUKU on 29/10/2017 01:25:00


MBABANE – In its first phase, LUSIP transformed 20 000 lives for the better
and it is projected to transform about 19 000 more lives but against this
backdrop, there are some individuals who appear hell-bent to halt the over E2
billion project.
LUSIP is an acronym for Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project. The bone of
contention is that some residents from KaNgcamphalala under Chief Mshikashika do
not want to give away their land for the implementation of the project which is
now being reposed.
As a result, they are now up in arms with their chief. The Times SUNDAY has
learnt through its well placed sources that about 2 000 homesteads of
KaNgcamphalala are against the repossession of the land.
Some of the affected families are vowing to do all within their powers to halt
the project through refusing to give back their land to their chief who is
already repossessing it in preparation for the project implementation.
They are arguing that government misled the funders when soliciting the loans by
saying there was readily available land. The availability of land was a key
condition for the loans to be released. In a report that the Times SUNDAY has
seen, it was mentioned that land was readily available or achieved.
Some of the project funders include the Arab Bank for Economic Development in
Africa (BADEA), the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the European
Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Swaziland.