By Matṧeliso Phulane
The deputy minister of local government and chieftainship affairs ‘Mathato Phafoli says misuse of land continues to be a major challenge in the country.
This is because land which is meant for food production is now being used for business purposes such as rental houses, industries as well as cannabis production of late.
Speaking at the Land Administration Authority (LAA) premises on Friday, Phafoli said, as the government one of the targets is to implement the National Strategic Development Plan II which includes food security.
“Basotho should therefore use their lands for food production, even though nowadays they seem to have made business opportunities out of them.
“There is nowhere where Basotho will get food if they continue to misuse their lands. As a result we are going to work hard to ovrcome this problem.
“We need to take action in order to protect this land for our future generations because King Moshoeshoe also worked hard to protect it for us,” she said.
The LAA was marking its 12 years of existence and celebrating the second international award winning from the European Society for Quality Research. The award was based on outstanding business results, best practices, quality awareness and achievements by companies in regional and global markets.
The LAA attended the ceremony on July 3, in Barcelona, Spain to receive the award. It was among the 43 selected companies, public administration and organizations representing 38 countries and different sectors.
LAA was established as an autonomous government body by the LAA act 2010 to modernize and improve land administration office and to reduce land transaction costs, the time it takes to acquire or dispose of a leasehold title to land.