Lands Commission to consider requests for official lands

The Lands Commission on Thursday said it had discontinued the processing of allocations in respect of residential in-filling and redevelopment schemes to individuals.

It would however continue to consider requests from state and public institutions, diplomatic missions, as well as corporate bodies.

"While the Commission has discontinued processing of allocations in respect of residential In-filling and redevelopment schemes, it will continue to consider requests from state/public institutions and diplomatic missions as well as other corporate bodies as and when necessary."

This was contained in a statement on the Residential In-Filling Schemes in Accra and Kumasi, issued in Accra and copied to Ghana News Agency.

The Commission has however, decided that allottees who have made full payments were to be allowed to take their leases and continue to liaise with the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing (who are responsible for managing Government bungalows) to grant allottees access to their plots.

"In all cases, no allocation was approved in respect of people who had previously been given government plots in the same Metropolis," the statement explained.

It said major challenges that confront the schemes are; the inability of some allottees to have access to their plots; threats of legal actions against the Lands Commission in view of the inability of allottees to gain access; and the difficulty in refunding monies paid into the Consolidated Fund.

The statement said it was in line with the performance of its management functions that the Commission from time to time appraises the estates, manages and undertakes reviews in response to changing trends.

"In-filling Schemes are therefore a regular estate management activity in response to rapid urbanisation and high demand for land," it explained.

It said, "It must be emphasized that In-filling Schemes implemented by various Governments through the Lands Commission and the Town and Country Planning Department are separate and distinct land management tools from Redevelopment Schemes. The general objective of In-filling Schemes is to increase the overall housing stock and density."

Others are, increasing the housing stock in prime government residential areas within the Metropolis and maintaining the existing bungalows in order to ensure higher and optimum densities.

Giving a background to the Accra In-Filling Scheme, it said in 1976, the then Lands Department, in accordance with the regular practice of appraising the public estates in Accra, collaborated with the Town and Country Planning Department to re-demarcate some of its estates (such as North Ridge, Cantonments and Airport Residential Areas) to ensure more effective land use.

Accordingly, the undeveloped portions of large tracts of land surrounding some government bungalows were re-demarcated to provide more residential plots for development.

“It should be noted that these bungalows were not necessarily in a dilapidated state and therefore, did not require demolition or redevelopment,” it said.

One of the specific areas that were appraised, which subsequently formed the first phase of a layout Scheme, was the Airport Residential Area, it said.

Following from this exercise, a number of plots were created to "densify" the use and these were later allocated to the general public by the then Lands Department. However, in 1979, the In-filling Scheme in respect of other estates was suspended.

The In-filling Schemes were re-introduced as a component of the 1992 Strategic Plan for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.

The first In-filling exercise was based on a scheme prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department and began in 1996.

It involved Government bungalows along the Seventh Avenue of the North Ridge Residential Area.

A total of 10 plots were released to SSNIT, which were developed into residential units and leased to the general public.

In implementing the Strategic Plan, the Department of Town and Country Planning, acting in conjunction with the Lands Commission, prepared In-filling Schemes within the Cantonments, Ridge and Airport Residential Areas.

These Schemes were approved by the Minister responsible for Town and Country Planning in 2005 for implementation in Accra, it said.

The plots created under the In-filling Schemes were of an average size of 0.23 acres (100ft x 100ft). These were considered as normal regular plots made available to the Land Commission for allocation.

The allocation of the plots (alongside regular plots in other Government residential areas) was considered and approved by the National Lands Commission under terms and conditions determined by the existing policies of the Commission.

In all cases, leases were granted and no sale of land took place.

Prior to 2005, allottees were made to pay a Development Charge (also known as Site Management Fee) only. This charge was a nominal sum of money paid by an allottee towards the provision of site services within a particular Government residential area before a lease was executed.

In the case of post-2005 Schemes however, the payment of premium was introduced and aimed at generating more revenue for Government, it explained.

Premium indeed, is a lump sum payment in lieu of the payment of economic ground rent.

In addition to the payment of premiums, allottees were made to pay a reduced Ground Rent of GH¢1,000.00 per acre per annum.

The plots within the Schemes were allocated under the above terms and conditions in view of the fact that they did not require the replacement of bungalows and its attendant demands, it said.

In managing the various Schemes, persons whose previous allocations were affected by conflicts, rezoning among others, were considered as a priority for replacement.

It said the allocation of plots within the Schemes came directly under the purview of the Lands Commission because such plots were re-demarcated from lands managed by the Commission as constitutionally mandated.

On redevelopment and in-filling since 2009, the current Lands Commission since assuming office in August 2009, has not created any Redevelopment and In-filling Scheme, it explained. However, in managing the existing Schemes, a number of allocations have been made, including replacements.

“The Lands Commission responded to a petition from the La Traditional Council and in the spirit of building a cordial working relationship, allocated 12 residential plots at Cantonments to the Council on behalf of the Allodial owners,” it said. “The necessary transfer documents in respect of 10 plots have been executed while those for the remaining two are being processed.”

With regard to the Kumasi In-Filling Scheme, between 2003 and 2008, 25 plots were created and added to the stock of State Lands within the Government Residential Areas in Kumasi, it said.

An additional need for the creation of these plots arose from incessant encroachments from Stools whose lands adjoined the State lands and a number of replacements that the Commission needed for some allottees, it explained.

Fifteen of the plots were within the Ridge Residential Area, while the remaining 10 were within the Residency and Danyame areas. The plot sizes ranged from 0.22 acres to 0.46 acres.

Twelve of these plots were leased in 2004, nine were leased in 2006, while the remaining four were leased in 2008.

The premium paid ranged from GH¢1,000.00 to GH¢5,000.00 depending on the plot size, it said.

Article 258 (1) of the 1992 Constitution establishes the Lands Commission and mandates it to perform a number of functions in coordination with other relevant public agencies and governmental bodies.

The Commission said, “One of the primary functions is to on behalf of the Government, manage public lands and any lands vested in the President by this Constitution or by any other law or any lands vested in the Commission.

“In accordance with this constitutional mandate, the Lands Commission performs a number of management functions in respect of public lands, which include; collaborating with the Town and Country Planning Department in planning these lands in accordance with the planning laws in the country, and allocating these lands to developers in accordance with laid-down regulations viz., the State Lands Regulation, 1963 (LI 230).

“Others are, executing lease agreements with various allottees and the issuance of rights of occupancy and use through Certificates of Allocation to public institutions; managing leasehold transactions and other rights in respect of developed estates; and the undertaking of periodic reviews of public estates to ensure that they are developed in accordance with sound estate management practices that would foster effective and productive use of public lands.

“In all the above activities, revenue generated is paid into the Consolidated Fund.”**