The Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development has warned illegal property developers that they risk having their properties demolished if it is established that they do not possess authentic documents.
The warning comes at a time illegal developers have besieged the Lilongwe Old Town and other parts of the capital city by constructing substandard buildings.
lose their money
In an interview in Lilongwe last week, Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development Anna Kachikho said government is not pleased with illegal property developers and that action will be taken against them.
She said. “Government cannot allow people just to be building anyhow because there are processes that one needs to follow before obtaining land.
“Once we have discovered that one does not have genuine papers, we will not hesitate but to pull down such structures because we want sanity to prevail.”
Kachikho said government will not even consider how beautiful the structure is or how much was spent but raze down such structures because others use that as an excuse.
“We do not want people to lose their money, so prevention is better than cure,” she warned.
The minister’s sentiments were also echoed by Lilongwe City mayor Desmond Bikoko who said demolishing buildings in the city is proving problematic since the owners get court injunctions.
“We could have demolished the structures that are taking shape in old town, but the case is now in court and we will wait for government direction since we were served with an injunction by the property developers,” he said.
Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Kondwani Nankhumwa recently warned that any property built illegally will be demolished.
“Some structures in our towns and cities are an eyesore and need to be demolished, especially if they were built on land acquired illegally,” he said. n
