18 farms bought out for resettlement

Namibian Lands Minister Hifikepunye Pohamba told parliament on Monday that 18 commercial farms totalling 107,821 hectares had been purchased by his ministry for land resettlement purposes at a cost of US $1.8 million during the 2000-01 financial year, the ‘Namibian’ reported. He said a total of 97 of the 173 farms offered were found unsuitable for resettlement purposes and certificates of waivers were issued to enable the owners to sell their farms to other interested Namibians on the open market. According to Pohamba, his ministry also issued 58 letters of exemption in favour of previously disadvantaged Namibians in order for them to acquire their own farms. The purchasing of commercial farms for land resettlement of the landless has been going on since Namibia’s independence in 1990. Government has been allocating US $2.4 million each year for the purchasing of commercial farms.