Twenty municipal master plans for Luanda, Benguela and Bie provinces were approved by the Angolan Executive, this year, under the territory organization plan, informed on Monday the minister of Spatial Planning and Housing, Ana Paula de Carvalho.
Besides these 20 approved plans, according to the official, the Angolan Executive is to approve several others in order to cover all 164 Angolan municipalities, mostly in villages that have economic and social development potential.
Ana Paula de Carvalho, speaking to the press on the sidelines of the 4th Consultative Council of her ministerial department, disclosed that with the master plans, the authorities will know precisely in which area they can build a certain infrastructure, whether social or economic.
With the implementation of local governments, according to the official, it is necessary to plan and organise the municipalities.
For the Province of Benguela, country’s centre-west, she disclosed that the organizational plans for the municipalities of Baía Farta, Lobito, Caimbambo, Chongoroi, Bocoio, Catumbela, Ganda and Benguela have already been approved.
For the Province of Bié, also located on the Angolan central region, the master plans of the municipalities of Andulo, Camacupa, Catabola, Chitembo, Chinguar, Cuemba, Cuito, Cunhinga, Nharea have been ratified, while for Luanda only Viana has been approved.
Another five master plans are on the way and are to be approved soon, she said.
By 2022, according to the National Development Plan (PDN), the indicator points to the approval of 72 master plans, almost half of the country’s municipalities, totalling 164.
Provincial governments have been challenged to put on their agendas the drafting of master plans, including for the rural areas, specifying the potential for economic and social development.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning has been carrying out a set of legislative reforms aimed at simplifying the process of access to land, so that rural communities, based on their habits and customs, can develop their native areas, which also helps them strengthen the title deed for local assets.
Meanwhile, one of the governmental programmes, dubbed “Minha Terra”, aims to promote the registration of rural land in favour of local communities and agricultural cooperatives.
Source: Angop