Committee for LAP inaugurated

Accra, May 10, GNA - The Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines on Wednesday inaugurated a four-member Committee to among other things review current processes and procedures to ensure effective implementation of the Land Administration Project (LAP).

The Committee, which has a month to submit its report, would also review procedures for processing land transactions in all land administration institutions such as the Asantehene Land Secretariat; Lands Commission, Survey Department and Land Title Registry. Professor Dominic Fobih, Sector Minister, who inaugurated it, said the Committee would identify functional linkages among the land sector agencies, and duplication in procedures among agencies that tended to create bottlenecks in the system of land services.

The Minister said since land was essential for life, the Ministry was putting in place polices that would reduce delays of processing land documents and ensure collaboration among land sector agencies for effective service delivery to the public.

He said almost three years into the LAP, the Ministry had put in place structures such as Customary Land Secretariats; Land Title Registries in all regions and had sensitized the public to adapt to changes.

Prof Fobih noted that although benefits of the Project might not be visible to the general public, much would be achieved by way of regulatory framework and tasked the Committee to ensure that their recommendation would be objective to achieve intended purpose. The Committee has Professor S.O. Asiamah of College of Architecture and Planning at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as Chairman, Mr Kwesi Darko Asare of the Office of the Administration of Stool Lands as Secretary; Mr. Mark Karkraba-Ampeh, Private Real Estate Consultant and Mr Kwesi Bentsi Enchill of the Lands Valuation Board, as members.

Prof Asiamah pledged the Committee's commitment to deliver to expectation and to make recommendation that would improve land administration in the country.