Govt engages on fixing boundaries on land acquired for resettlement and reforms

The minister of Finance and Economic Development Patrick Chinamasa has said the government is seized with efforts to make boundaries for the land acquired for resettlement and reform as most of the acquired land had not yet been demarcated.

Chinamsa was responding to the question asked by an  MP who  said he understand the 99 year leases are now bankable.

"What is the policy regarding the transfer of the 99 year lease?" he asked.

Chinamasa said in order to enhance agricultural productivity, they have been taking a host of measures with respect to the land issue and some of
these measures include fixing the new boundaries of land that was acquired under the Land Reform Programme.  

"We acquired about 15 million hectares of land, which was cut up into small pieces and over 350 000 households benefited under the A1 and about 16 thousand to 17 thousand under the A2," Chinamasa said.

"The exercise that is before us is to fix those new boundaries.  We got seed money from the European Union (EU) and technical advice from UNDP.  
All this is preparatory to issuing security documents to A1 farmers in the case of A2 99- year leases."

He said the discussions with the Bankers' Association, with respect to incorporating collateral features into the 99-year leases are complete and
we are now finalising that document.  

"So, yes, we are going to have 99-year leases which will be transferable and can be used for securing loans from commercial entities," he said.