World Bank gives to Land Administration Project

Accra, October 13, GNA- The World Bank has released 54.4 million dollars for the implementation of the first phase of the Land Administration Project (LAP).

Mr. Solomon Bekure, a representative of the World Bank, disclosed this at the launch of the Land Administration Project in Accra. He said the allocation is an indication of the Bank's support for the quick take off of the project and also strengthen the mechanism intended to resolve the numerous problems in land administration in the country.

The Land Administration programme is a long-term commitment by the government to reduce poverty and enhance economic and social growth by improving security of land tenure system and simplify the process of acquiring land.

It also intends to develop a land market and foster prudent land management by establishing an efficient system of land administration, both state and customary based on clear, coherent and consistent polices and laws supported by appropriate institutional structures. The first phase of the 15-year project will be a range of actions that seek to confirm policy detail within the framework of the National Land Policy and pilot activities that would seek to build consensus and develop efficient, cost-effective, field proven measures that can be used to scale up activity under subsequent phases of the LAP. The Land administration program also forms part of the systematic ways of developing a comprehensive land policy for the country which will tackle weak land administration, multiplicity of land disputes which have clogged the court system and the general indiscipline in land use.

With four main components, the first will among other things seek to harmonize policy and legislative framework for sustainable land administration and consider project management, monitoring and evaluation, human resource, community outreach and public relations. The Ministry of Lands and Forestry as the lead agency will implement the project with the collaboration of the Ministries Justice, Local Government and Rural Development, Environment and Science and Information and the Judiciary.