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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
MIDLANDS province has crafted a policy document to avoid conflict and provide compensation for communities displaced by developmental projects.

Officiating at the launch of a document on Guidelines and Recommendation for Compensation of Local Authorities Displaced by Growth Point Expansion and Rural Development Projects in Gweru, Midlands Provincial Administrator Mr Abiot Maronge said various housing development projects would be implemented under the new dispensation.

He said there is a need to prevent conflict arising from the displacement of people.

“The economy is certainly going to revive, it is going to grow and as that happens we are going to see housing developments taking place in our various spaces, in our rural district service centres, at our growth points and as this happens, inevitably, it displaces communities,” Mr Maronge said.

“It has that effect wherever you go that urban development is an inevitable process that if it takes place has some effects of displacement and that is why we are here to see how we can manage that process.”

He said a number of projects set to come on stream, schools, clinics and other public facilities may trigger the displacement of communities.

“How do we strike a balance between the interest of both the community and the public interest? When we put in place a school or a clinic that is in the public interest but the inevitable result is that which I have talked about. That school may eat into someone’s land. How do we strike a balance? The team that has come up with the document has made a serious attempt to try to strike that balance,” Mr Maronge said.

The document, which is a result of consultations and research, was sponsored by the Centre for Conflict Management and Transformation (CCMT).

Mr Maronge said it recommends what needs to be done in compensating affected communities.

“It is a document that we expect to give us some guidelines as we drive the urban development agenda.

This is a timely intervention, in my view, because we expect that in the short to medium term, we are going to see very visible development on the ground,” he said.

In a statement, CCMT director Mr Wonder Phiri said the document provides rural district councils with a clear roadmap on how to facilitate mutual agreements with the affected communities.

“It gives the communities sufficient notice, conduct of consultations and negotiating resettlement and compensation models based on valuations and impact assessments,” he said.
Zimbabwe has experienced rapid urbanisation and the expansion of mining and rural development projects in the past 20 years leading to displacements or resettlements of the affected people.

This has led to conflicts between authorities requiring land for development and occupants of the land earmarked for development.

“Conflicts emerge about public notice and consultations, resettlement on adequate land, compensation for improvements and disruptions, and replacement of social infrastructure and community developments,” Mr Phiri said.

He encouraged RDCs in the Midlands province to adopt the document while using it to minimise conflicts associated with resettlement and compensation of communities affected by growth point expansion or other rural development projects.

“We hope that the ‘Guidelines and Recommendation’ by the Midlands Province will support dialogue and policy development at national level on resettlement and compensation of local communities,” Mr Phiri said.

The guidelines and recommendations were developed by a provincial working group with representatives from the PA’s office, the Department of Physical Planning, the eight RDCs in the Midlands and members of the affected communities.