182
Step two involves the submission of the completed form by the council to the district executive
secretary who retains a copy at the council and distributes one copy each to the district where the
applicant intends to settle and the Department of Resettlement in the office of the prime minister. 13
The third step involves a number of substeps: the town of destination makes a request to the
town of origin for information about the applicant; the town of destination is required to make an
assessment of the potential of its area to accommodate people from the town of origin; and the
settlement area and the estimated cost involved must be identified.
Once these conditions are met, the fourth step involves getting a response on the outcome of
the application from the council office in the area of destination to the council where the application
originated, and finally to the applicant. If approved for settlement, the applicant is advised to prepare
for the move and to inform the district office of expected date of travel.
The fifth step involves the provision of transportation to facilitate the move to the settlement
area. Transportation to the settlement area is one item in the incentive package that the government
gives to all settlers. Arrangement for transportation for the move from the town of origin is the
responsibility of the dispatching council up to the headquarters of the recipient district, which then
takes the responsibility for transporting the new settler to the settlement area where he/she is
immediately allocated a plot.
Once the settler is in his/her new home area, the rest of the incentive package is made
available. The incentives given to settlers have changed over the years and have varied depending on
the category of settlement. Prior to 1985, people were being settled either as medium- or small-scale
commercial farmers or as subsistence farmers who wanted to relocate and to take advantage of the
incentives being offered by the government.
The incentive package for the medium- or small-scale commercial farmers included: soil
survey and demarcation of farm plots; access roads to each farm on the scheme; access to communal
water supplies and cattle-dipping facilities; access to agricultural extension, credit, supply, and
marketing services; sufficient cleared land for the first year of the farming system proposed; 14
subsidies for fencing and water supply at the existing levels; tractor services for plowing; and
transportation to the settlement area.
People going into settlement schemes to produce on a subsistence basis were provided with
transportation for the family to the settlement area. In addition, they were provided with soil survey
and demarcation of farm plots; access roads to each farm on the scheme; access to communal water
supplies; access to agricultural extension advice; stumping and windrowing of one hectare (or
stumping of two hectares), free of charge; seed, fertilizer, and pesticides for two hectares, free of
charge for the first year; the normal subsidies available for fencing and water supply; and tractor
service for plowing."
13 This department is now in the office of the vice president.
14 The land clearing cost was to be recovered from the farmer.
15 Granting 14-year leases was only considered after observing and assessing the farmer for at least two years. The major
consideration was that the farmer should show progress in terms of clearing land above the initial area cleared by the
government.