Lands Commission urged to facilitate access to land

Tamale, Aug 21, GNA- The various Regional Land Commissions have been urged to design specific and practical policy directions in tandem with the broad vision of government to ensure prompt and easy access to land.

Mrs. Esther Obeng Dapaah, Minister of Land, Forestry and Mines, made the call at the inauguration of a 25-member reconstituted Northern Region Lands Commission in Tamale on Tuesday.

She said the reconstitution of the various Regional Land Commissions marked a new epoch in the land delivery process by the government to create an enabling environment for investment and reduce investors' frustration in accessing land for their businesses. Mr. J.S. Suurbareh, Acting Supervising High Court Judge in Tamale swore the members of the Commission into office with Mr Seidu Seini, a retired educationist, as Chairman.

Mrs. Dapaah told the members "your tenure of office is unique since you may be superintending and giving broad policy directions not only to this current Lands Commission but to other land sector agencies under the Ministry".

She reminded the members of the onerous task ahead of them saying: "You would be dealing with problems such as the multiple sale of land, boundary disputes and general indiscipline in the land market". She urged them to sensitise the chiefs and landowners in the region on the fact that state acquired lands were still state lands and that they could only take control of lands vested in the Skin. The Minister announced that the Land Administration Project (LAP) was embarking on the collation of lands not vested in the State and their uses to be listed in a proposed Land Bank Directory. She said the exercise was an attempt to woo investors and therefore urged the District Assemblies, landowners, professional bodies and the general public to list their interest in the Directory. Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, expressed his concern at the rampant encroachment of school and government lands with impunity in the region especially, in the Tamale Metropolis. He noted that the practice was carried out sometimes with the connivance of the statutory bodies charged to safeguard government lands.

"Many of such bodies team up with the custodians of the land to take large chunks of land and sell them indiscriminately to private developers," he said.

The Regional Minister suggested that to make the task of managing land administration less difficult any re-zoning exercise should be approved by the district assemblies to ensure controlled development. Alhaji Idris said in the re-zoning and parcelling of land for private development, consideration should be given to the future growth and requirements of the population.

"We should make room for recreational grounds, parks and gardens, shopping centres, satellite markets, car parks, drainage and security installations", he said.