Madonna’s Malawi school drives villagers off their lands, pay compensation
The Queen of Pop, Madonna is reportedly set to pay £70,000 in compensation to the people whose homes were destroyed to make room for her Raising Malawi Academy for girls.
The 51-year-old performer built the new £9million school at the expense of 200 villagers, who have been forced off their land.
It is claimed they are not happy with the amount that they are being paid, and one villager, Amos Mkuyu, said he was given just 200,000 Malawi Kwacha (£850) for three hectares of land, mango trees and three dwellings.
“My sisters and I inherited this land from our parents, whose parents have been here for over a hundred years. How can I get only K200, 000? (850 pounds)” the Daily Express quoted one Mkuyu, as saying.
However, the District Commissioner, Charles Kalemba, reportedly told the villagers in Chinkhota where the school would be built: “: “The government allowed you to occupy this land because there was no project yet, but now that Madonna wants to build you a school you have to give way. This school is the future of our children”
Village head man Binson Chinkhota said: “We have been compensated and this school is a pride for us as it is the future of our children.”
Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo, the school’s principal-designate, added: “We stalled for some months because of the land dispute. We are now in full swing and set to meet the 2011 deadline.”
The school consists of 46 hectares and will have a library and administration building, dining hall, gymnasium, wellness center, sports field, 30 classrooms, 12 dormitories and 18 staff houses.
The design was centered around optimizing natural daylighting and ventilation to minimize energy use and take advantage of the natural site conditions.
Mostly constructed out of locally sourced Hydraform bricks, which are made from on-site soil, the builders can avoid using “burned bricks which have been largely responsible for wide spread deforestation in Malawi.”
The entire gymnasium roof will be covered in photovoltaic panels to help supply the school with power.
Meanwhile two constructed wetlands will process the black and grey water from the campus for reuse as irrigation water for the playing field. An educational agricultural area will then help teach the students .
The school construction is expected to be completed in 2012.
Madonna is giving back to the country that gave her David, her son and Mercy, her daughter.–AGENCIES
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