Make input into Land Administration Bill - AG

Accra, Feb. 9, GNA - The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Joe Ghartey on Friday urged surveyors to make quality input into the Land Administration Bill soon to be laid before Parliament. He said most of the laws on land issues were obsolete and needed to be amended to reflect the realities of the times and also address the numerous problems related to land acquisition, ownership and other uses.

Addressing the 38th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors in Accra, Mr Ghartey noted that as an institution their role in land matters could not be overemphasized and therefore the need for them to put their knowledge at the disposal of policymakers. The Minister stated that land was at the core of human development pointing out that issues concerning ownership, acquisition and development of land were crucial to the development and survival of the country.

"Given the crucial nature of land to the infrastructural development of the nation it can be inferred that problems concerning the acquisition, ownership and use of land are invariably problems affecting the development of the nation."

Mr Ghartey said it was based on this premise that government in collaboration with her development partners had embarked on Land Administration Project (LAP).

"The main objective of this project is to establish a single body which will administer land matters."

He said the Land Title Registry, Survey Department, Lands Commission and Land Valuation Board would be merged into one body and their activities streamlined to enhance efficiency. "Another important aspect of this project is the identification and codification of all the various customary rules on land in the country."

The Minister expressed the hope that the LAP, which had brought on board all stakeholders involved in the administration of land, would address all problems associated with land acquisition, ownership and use as well as introduce best practices.

Mr Ghartey urged the Surveyors to continue to uphold high professional standards and consequently weed out quacks whose activities might tarnish the image of the profession. Mr K. Amoah-Mensah, President of the Ghana Institute of Surveyors, said key roles played by surveyors in the last 50 years had been commendable.

However, they have had their challenges in the form of unrealized development expectation of post-independent Ghanaian society. He enumerated some of the problems as existence of multiple land administration systems, unfortunate public perception of the surveyor at the centre of land litigations and unethical professional practices. Mr Amoah-Mensah also cited project suspension that, he said, was mainly due to resource constraints and political and social reasons. Others are teething and pioneering professional practice problems and acceptability syndrome, especially for the locally trained quantity surveyor.

Mr Amoah-Mensah stated that clearly the nation's future outlook was being propelled on the vision of peaceful secured country poised for productive, enhanced livelihood development within the environment of rule of law.

In this context, the surveyors' role would be redefined to provide the interventions needed to respond to the land and construction resources development, he said.