<<Print>>

Mr Mike Hammah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has said government has started the process of reviewing all compulsory acquired state lands with the aim of reverting those that were not in use to their owners. He said after finalizing the inventory of the land, Cabinet approval would be needed so that such lands could be released through formal legal processes to the owners. Mr Hammah made the announcement in a speech read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Lands and national Resource, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Agyeman at a sensitization workshop held in Tamale on Wednesday. The workshop, which brought together chiefs and queen mothers, from the region, was to educate them on their role in the implementation of the phase two of the Land Administration Project (LAP2). The first phase of LAP which was implemented between 2003 and 2010 laid the foundation by reviewing the statutes on land and had undertaken a pilot program on a number of initiatives including customary boundary demarcation and establishment of customary land secretariat. Mr Hammah urged chiefs to exercise circumspection in managing the natural resource available saying �giving large tracts of lands out without entering into any form of equity may be a disincentive to the nation�s economy�. He advised the chiefs to demand from investors the appropriate feasibility and viability studies of the intended projects, financial plans and evidence of technical capacity. Explaining the objective of LAP 2, he said, the project would consolidate the achievements made during the first phase by deepening the reforms, enabling the land sector agencies to be more responsive to clients, and reducing time of land transactions as well as to provide a conducive environment to reflect the objective of an efficient modern and transparent land service delivery. Mr Hammah said it would focus on the removal of business bottle-necks through process, re-engineering, cutting down cost and support for the Judiciary to improve adjudication of land cases. LAP 2, he said, recognized the vital role of women in the Land Administration System in the country as they constituted over 50 per cent of the indigenous farming community. �Unfortunately women suffer most, under the current inheritance and land tenure systems as many of them are denied title to land in some traditional jurisdictions�, he said. Yagbowura Suleman Jakpa Tuntumba Bore Essa I, Paramount chief of the Gonja Traditional Area, said the management of land in a sustainable manner was imperative for the socio-economic development of traditional areas. He pledged that the Northern Regional House of Chiefs would collaborate with all stakeholders to develop a system that would be meaningful to all concerned.