The Commissioner of Central Equatoria State’s Juba County on Wednesday stopped the illegal land allotment exercise in Western Jebel Kujur.
During his visit to the area on Wednesday afternoon, Commissioner Emmanuel Ezbon Tete said he stopped the exercise after suspected land grabbers demarcated and allocated several plots of land to individuals.
“We came here to see the ongoing illegal demarcation of land and illegal allocation of plots. The government has sent a message to the people, we have a demarcation plan,” he stated. “The first plan is to divide the industrial area where companies, their facilities, and warehouses will be located. The second plan is for public markets and the third plan is for residential areas.”
Tete warned that the area in question was designated as an industrial zone in 2006 and advised those involved in the unlawful act to immediately stop.
“As citizens, there are procedures for acquiring land and you have to go to the payam, county, and State Ministry of Housing. These are places where you can get a plot,” he said. “You cannot just come here and start demarcating the land on your own. I am warning all of you, I do not want to see anybody coming back here to demarcate land.”
For his part, a representative of companies operating in Lokwilili, Eng. Alikaya Aligo Samson said the land was allocated to companies since 2006.
“We demarcated this area in 2006 when I was the Minister of Land and Housing in Central Equatoria State and we came here today because land grabbers are demarcating this area and they have gone to the extent of forging documents and claiming to be chiefs and they are involved in the illegal allocation of plots to individuals,” he said.
Land grabbing, disputes over plots, and subsequent violent conflicts are common in Juba.
Since the outbreak of the civil war in December 2013, land grabbing involving senior government officials and army officers has become rampant.