By CHUSA SICHONE –
NORTHERN Province Minister Brian Mundubile is hopeful that the controversy surrounding the allocation of 1,252 hectares of Forest 47 land in Kasama will finally be put to arrest following the conclusion of investigations.
Mr Mundubile said that the committee which was instituted after a stakeholders’ meeting to probe the alleged corruption by some Government officials in the allocation of the Forest 47 land had since produced a report of its findings to be availed to the public and the media.
Addressing a meeting in Kasama recently, Mr Mundubile said originally the 1,252 hectares of land in question was a forest before President Edgar Lungu de-gazetted it, but that some Kasama residents accused “a few individuals” of dubiously sharing the land in question.
“It is my prayer that finally the issue of Forest 47 will be put to rest because the men and women that we entrusted with the task of gathering the truth have done that, they have come up with a document
that they will circulate to all of us,” he said.
Mr Mundubile said that investigations were instituted to enable transparency over the matter and that the committee had no borders when conducting its probe, as the taskforce visited every relevant office and accessed every document pertaining to Forest 47.
Mr Mundubile was confident that the committee in its report had presented empirical evidence on the facts surrounding Forest 47.
He urged the committee to produce sufficient copies of its report for distribution to the public and the media so as to allay their concerns on the Forest 47 land.
The provincial minister urged Kasama residents to ensure that they sorted out problems they faced in the same way the Forest 47 issue had been handled.