LHDA's Response to Mopheme
LHDA has followed the articles which have appeared in the local newspaper “Survivor” in the issues of Tuesday, November 19-25, 2002 and Tuesday, December 03-09, 2002. The articles are titled “LHDA has reneged on its promises and forgotten about us, say Katse communities” and “LHDA finally “Agrees” to Resettle Lakabane Family” respectively.
As a general comment, LHDA would like to express its concern that the honourable members of parliament who participated in the hurried tour of some of the selected villages within the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) on invitation by the Transformation Resource Centre (TRC) on November 7-8, 2002, did not get a balanced brief on project activities, particularly issues that related to affected communities because LHDA was not contacted to give its own side of the story.
LHDA’s doors are open for discussion on any aspect of the project. In fact, preparations are underway to take all members of both the Upper and Lower houses of the Parliament of Lesotho to the project sites where they will get first hand information on the project. The same invitation will be extended to media.
On the issue of the Lakabane family which is claimed to have been left at Ha Seotsa when it was supposed to resettle, the following explanation should suffice to clarify the misconception: After Mokoatsi Lakabane, husband to ’Makuleile Lakabane had presented proof that the deceased household head had left him one rondavel, LHDA offered Mokoatsi two options as follows: (a) have the rondavel compensated in cash based on the valuation of the said structure or (b) have the organisation build him a room also based on the value of his rondavel. LHDA is still awaiting Mokoatsi’s response.
The following information may also serve to highlight LHDA’s Compensation Policy: According to the Compensation Policy, only heads of households receive compensation and this package comprises the following:
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For more information please contact LHDA Public Relations on +266 22 318 573/6