The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has disclosed that the Lands Commission will soon begin a programme of taking inventory of all the lands in the country. He said the inventory will enable the Commission have a register of all the public lands in the country.
He explained that, per this inventory,;one can identify public lands in any part of the country and added that this will help Ghanaians also question and interrogate how public lands are being handled or used.
“Public lands in the country continue to be the property of the citizens for their benefit;and such citizens must ensure that they protect it. Measures are being put in place to preserve the lands.”
Samuel Jinapor
The Lands Minister stated that the land administrative issues have become a systemic problem which has to be dealt with immediately. He revealed that from 2017 to date,;the government of President Akufo-Addo has been putting in place a lot of measures;and bold decisions to reform lands administration in the country. This, he said,;is to make land administration,;effective, efficient and anchored on integrity and transparency and in a manner that serves the good people of this country. Also,
“We must be very candid to accept the situation that we find ourselves in;as a country and of course that situation is arising as a result of years and years of actions and inactions. So, a lot of measures have been undertaken but a good number of them have gotten to a stage where we think it is important that we update the country. We have taken far reaching reforms and measures regarding land administration.” Also
Samuel Jinapor
Gov’t to have proper spatial planning
Samuel Jinapor disclosed that government as part of efforts to enhance land administration is working on digitizing the records of the lands commission to have a proper spatial mapping. He explained that if this is not done, the digitization agenda to help the economy will be impossible.
“The last spatial mapping we had as a country was as far back as 1974, so we do not have even the contours of landed property in our country. The Lands Commission itself doesn’t have a record of lands across our country. If we are not able to digitize the records of the lands commission and we do not have a proper spatial mapping which is fit for purpose, all of the digitization across the spectrum of our economy will be impossible and become very glaring in our faces.
“This is one of the things we are seeking to do, which is the whole digitization program. Digitizing the records of Lands Commission and the work of the Lands Commission, is to make the work of the commission up to speed and make it fit for purpose so that citizens on top of their mobile phones can conduct searches and can engage the lands commission.”
Samuel Jinapor
Lands Commission services remain public
Samuel Jinapor then noted that the service provided at the Lands Commission Office continues to be a public one and as such, the Lands Commission must be guided by the tenets in providing service. He said it is very important that the ministry come to grips with land administration in the country to enable economic growth.
“It is needless and trite to point out that land as a factor or a tool for economic development or engineering cannot be overstated. It is common knowledge that if you want to build your country, if your economy has to do well, land administration must be effective. The work that is done at the lands commission affects all of us and I believe that Ghanaians have varied experiences with regards to land administration in our country.”
