Dowa community gets extra compensation
Dowa community members, who last week bemoaned under-compensation for their property which was demolished during the Lumbadzi-Dowa-Chezi Road construction, have received supplementary compensation.
Government moved in with the extra compensation this week after Weekend Nation reported that some of the affected households were initially given as low as K200 compensation for their demolished property such as trees and gardens.
A visit to Dowa on Thursday found Roads Authority (RA), Roads Fund Administration (RFA) and Dowa District Council officials administering payment of the compensation amounting to about K20 million (about $50 000).
RA construction engineer Joel Longwe said the money catered for compensations on two sections of the road.
“We are giving supplementary compensation to those who complained that they were underfunded on the second 10 kilometre part of the road and new compensations to those on the last 12.5 kilometre part of the road up to the bridge.
“The formula for calculating the compensations is with the Ministry of Lands and not Roads Authority,” said Longwe.
This means aggrieved individuals on the first 10 kilometre have been left out.
However, among the compensated, some were happy with the amount they got while others protested the figures.
One of the beneficiaries, Zofuna Dala Banda, who in the payment documents was appearing as having lost about 1 000 trees, got about K420 000 (about $1 050) compensation although she told Weekend Nation that she only lost four Mango trees and some bananas.
Alufeyo Mpaya, who lost eight guava trees and four exotic trees got K3 700 while Liviness Lupiya who said she lost a house, kitchen and livestock kraal got about K44 000 (about $110).
Mabvuto Liabunya said he got K51 550 for his 58 trees while his brother, Kanthunkako, got K238 900 (about $597) compensation for his 52 trees.
When asked why the figures were varying and that some victims were complaining, the district council’s lands officer Lezias Banda said he could not comment on how the assessment of property was done because he is new at the council.
“I think the figures are reflecting the time when the assessment was done in 2008 because, currently, one fruit tree is compensated for K5 000 (about $12.50) and a non-fruit tree is compensated for K3 000 [about $7.50],” said Banda.
All the 205 targeted victims complained that they did not know how the compensations sums were arrived at, which they said denied them the right to challenge the figures.
The district’s lands officer said the council received documents for the supplementary and new compensation on Monday hence, they had no time to communicate the figures of the compensation to the victims in advance.
Last week, Weekend Nation reported that over 100 affected villagers in the area including some chiefs, complained that they had been chasing for extra compensation for more than four years to no avail.
