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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
HUNDREDS of Bulawayo property owners risk losing their undeveloped residential stands as council moves to repossess all abandoned, derelict and deserted properties.

In a public notice issued yesterday, Bulawayo City Council gave property owners 60 days to report to council in connection with the matter.

The latest notice is the second in four months after the initial one that listed properties said to be owned by Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Obert Mpofu, MDC leader Welshman Ncube and former Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono among a host of top politicians and prominent people with land lying idle for years in the city.

The initial list had more than 200 people, but Minister Mpofu, Gono and Ncube are not on the latest list that has close to 500 individuals with properties mostly in the eastern suburbs.

Former Bulawayo Deputy Mayor Amen Mpofu is among those on the latest list.

“Notice is hereby given to the owners of the listed properties to come forward and make the necessary payments to council within the next 60 days. Failure to do so will result in council claiming this property in terms of Section 5 of the Titles Registration and Derelict Land Act Chapter 20:20,” warned the council.

“It states that persons having claim on derelict land may apply to High Court or other public body upon immovable property in Zimbabwe, and such property is abandoned, deserted, derelict, and the owner thereof cannot be found, it shall be lawful for the person or body claiming such rate or assessment to apply to the High Court, stating the amount claimed to be due and the grounds applying for relief under this Act.”

The council advised the affected property owners to approach their offices to avoid losing their land.

The council has in the past expressed concern about the high number of residential and commercial stands that have remained underdeveloped for several years.

Some land owners have attributed failure to develop their stands to the challenging economic situation.

According to council regulations, if an owner fails to develop a stand for two years, the local authority can repossess it without paying any compensation.

The city’s housing waiting list presently stands at more than 100, 000, as both council and private land developers are failing to cope with the high demand of home seekers in the face of economic challenges in the country.