Terra

Green belt housing gamble in England – a bet too far?

Published in Thursday January 3rd, 2013 In Opinion

Watching two of the better-known rightwing thinktanks prime their intellectual cannons and bombard the same target is an impressive, if stomach-churning, sight. In the past week the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and Policy Exchange, both of which have the ear of No 10 and No 11 Downing Street, have taken aim at the UK’s planning laws.
The IEA opted for a straightforward bombardment of the green belt. It argued that property developers should be allowed to give incentives to local communities to free up otherwise sacred ground. In other words, if developers see a profit in building on certain land, most likely in the London commuter belt, and the local parishioners can be successfully bought off, then what right does anyone have to intervene?

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Raging Floods And Mudslides Cause Chaos Across Kenya

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013

More than ten people are missing in Keiyo South district after yesterday’s landslides that claimed more than ten lives. Keiyo South DC Arthur Bunde says 500 people have so far been relocated from Kerio Valley and are currently camping at several primary schools in the area. He says the search and rescue mission is ongoing.

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Kenyan police murder four squatters during eviction

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

Four people have been killed and ten others seriously injured when police opened fire on squatters protesting about being evicted from the 1200 acre Twiga Estate farm in Kenya, which they have lived on since 1952. 152 families (4,000 people) have been living on the farm since 1952, but claim they have owned the land since 1965 when itwas given to them by a white settler. They built homes and schools, and farmed the land for over 60 years.

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10,000 Displaced Persons May Get Agricultural Land in Kenya

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

The Cabinet will decide how to resettle more than 10,000 IDP families and other evictees before the elections. With only two months to the polls, Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia has said the government will make a decision on how to get land for their resettlement. The government is considering to use part of its land owned by ministries and parastatals to resettle the families which include those evicted from Mau and Embobut forests.

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Shitanda launches slum upgrading programme in Nairobi

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In In the media

Housing Minister Soita Shitanda has asked slum dwellers to be ready for the upcoming slum upgrading programme in Nairobi. Speaking in Kibera Soweto Slums yesterday during the groundbreaking ceremony of Seefar Apartments located within Highrise Estate in the area, the minister noted that it will take collective responsibility to see Kenya’s Vision 2030 dream of having cheap and decent affordable housing for all achieved.

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Curbing Tanzania’s “Land Grabbing Race”

Published in Thursday December 20th, 2012 In In the media

From January 2013, Tanzania will start restricting the size of land that single large-scale foreign and local investors can “lease” for agricultural use. The decision follows both local and international criticism that major investors are grabbing large chunks of land here, often displacing small-scale farmers and local communities.
The Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Peniel Lyimo confirmed that the government would limit the amount of land leased to investors in this East African nation. Previously, there were no limits.

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Lagos Condemns Rise in Forging of Land Documents in Nigeria

Published in Wednesday December 19th, 2012 In In the media

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has given detailed insight into the reasons behind the promulgation of the State’s Land Use Act (Title Document Registration) 2012, saying that it was to improve service in the administration of land in the state.
Fashola, who spoke at the stakeholders’ meeting on Land Use Act (Title Documentation) 2012, said the process of land administration in the state would be greatly enhanced by the operation of the Act, pointing out that it would also empower citizens of the state.

UN Helps Land Commission in Liberia

Published in Wednesday December 19th, 2012 In In the media

The UN-Habitat Liberia Friday donated vehicles to the Land Commission of Liberia describing its work as crucial to the resolution of land disputes in the country. The donation came as the Land Commission was carrying out a pilot project in five counties that will lead to the resolution of land disputes in the country.

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Eviction of traditional dwellers in forests opposed in India

Published in Tuesday December 18th, 2012 In In the media

The members of Karnataka Rajya Moola Budakattugala Okkuta staged a protest against the eviction of forest dwellers who have been residing inside the forest, for generations, in front of Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mangalore on Monday. The protesters shouted slogans against the eviction of the traditional forest dwellers. Addressing the protesters, Federation Vice-President M Sundar said that that the authorities should issue title deeds for the forest dwellers.

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‘Squatters are not home stealers’

Published in Friday December 14th, 2012 In Opinion

On 26 September, Alex Haigh became the first person to be jailed under section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act. His crime was one of which countless thousands of people could now be guilty: squatting. A 21-year-old from Plymouth, Haigh was arrested for living in a house in Pimlico that had been empty for over a year. He had come to London seeking work as a bricklayer; now he has a criminal record.
When section 144, which makes it an offence to squat in a residential building in England and Wales, came into effect at the beginning of September, many people agreed with it, including 52% of Guardian readers in an online poll. But is squatting really a menace or a burden to society? Might it even be beneficial? And when we talk about squatting, what do we really mean anyway?

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