DTA President, McHenry Venaani, has called for the modernisation of property laws to include property in rural areas. Venaani says many Namibians have invested a lot of money in their houses in the communal areas, and yet are outside the commercial banks valuations standards. The opposition leader contributed to the debate on the Appropriation Amendment Bill in the National Assembly on Tuesday. Venaani said that property valuation laws in Namibia are discriminatory to those that live in the communal areas. He said those laws should be changed to open up the communal areas and allow property owners to use their property as collateral at commercial banks. The DTA president said this will give rural dwellers more access to bank loans to grow their businesses and invest more into farming. Venaani further called on the Land Reform Minister to create categories for resettling families, to ensure that productive farms are given to those that are serious about farming. The DTA leader said the current system was making productive land unproductive, with those who were resettled on such land not having the means to farm sustainably. Responding, Minister of Land Reform, Uutoni Nujoma, said the Lands Bill will reform the whole land reform process. The bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament this week.