IRIN News are reporting that Zambia's open-door investment policy is coming under criticism from rights activists for passing on the real cost of development to the poor, who are being evicted to make way for the new prestige projects. In the words of Joseph Chilengi (Africa Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs)):
"Zambia's IDP situation is actually even worse than in conflict-prone areas..........[At least these] populations have the potential to return to their places when the situation stabilises."In the eyes of one IDP, George Salano (aged 57) who informal settlement in Lusaka is located on land that has been allocated to the Chinese government for the construction of a multimillion dollar Chinese economic zone:
"I have personally lived here for many years; my children were born here. SomeThe main problem is the lack of integration between various policy areas - housing, planning, land reform and promotion of foreign investment. The Fifth National Development Plan pretty much treats these areas in isolation. A vision of development that is not coherent is likely to have many unintended consquences, of which the IDPs is just one of many. For further discussion of housing, urban migration and other areas please see the blog A complex web of puzzles…
of my friends have lived here even longer. Now we have been told to relocate to
Chongwe town [about 50km east of Lusaka], but we have nowhere to start from - we have no houses there, and we have no farms there"
Cho-
ReplyDeleteFirst, congratulations to you and your better/other half wish you happy years together.
I glad you bring up this topic, since the influx of foreign investment, I have been wondering how long before eminent domain comes to head.
Eminent domain the power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property –
Is ironically a big issue ( http://www.emdo.blogspot.com/)in some major cities in the US - once city authorities, desperate to collect higher taxes and fees from developers, approve a business plan, private citizens have no choice but to sell homes they’ve owned for years, as long as it stands on the land developers want. Despite recourse to a functional legal system, private owners have had little success.
I am interested to know in the Zambian scenario, was there any compensation offered?
Did the affected persons have title or legally verifiable ownership?
Kashikulu,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks!!
Its an important topic indeed, and one which has not really be taken up by parliamentarians or the media.
I think part of the difficulty is that those who get displaced (like the example of Mr Salano, occupy informal / unrecognised settlements (shantys). This is why they are not eligible for compensation, although the state does move them elsewhere.
Now the State's position is that they should not be there in the first place. You'll recall Mugabe's operation murambatisvan? But my answer is that we should ask why these people are there in the first place. If government had strong planning laws, worked a plan to hand rural-urban migration and ensured that people had strong land tenure security, some of these problems would be avoided.
Dear Zambians do we have an economic Zambian zone in any Chinese county? Do we have any exchange programs to train a Zambian citizen to continue the technology the Chinese are bring to Zambia, It might all be politics but we have to think! How long is this boom going to last? Let's project and examine our position in the next 10yrs at the copper prices, Does everyone think the Chinese economic boom is going to last with the world economic crisis looming upon us at the moment? Apart from the minimal funding towards the infrastrutures to facilitate they needs! what have they done towards the education system, health care technology and training to be able to retain prosperity and let it trickle down to every Zambian? so that we could all benefit from the copper boom prices? Concerned unintellectual Zambian citizen
ReplyDeleteCheck out this article. Maybe the old cooperatives can be revived, without the rigid central planning and control.
ReplyDeleteCooperative movement vital for wealth creation, says KK
By Kelvin Tembo
Tuesday October 14, 2008 [04:00]
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour point is very valid, and may I say, well thought out.
Study after study shows that foreign direct investment can only be beneficial if it brings "infrastructure" investment (e.g. many roads, many hospitals, many airports, etc) or if "domestic firms" have the know-how and ability to benefit from knowledge "spillovers" from foreign firms. In short, for us to benefit from this investment (in the absense of higher taxes on them), we need to already have the know how. Unfortunately, we don't have the right investment in education and so forth.
As you say, one way to remedy that is to ensure that such investment in education and health form part of these broader agreements with Chinese firms and others. I have argued along the same lines in the past. Especially in the context of transport and housing, where I think a law can be implemented that makes investment conditional on some infrastructural provision.