Lands Commission outdoors Customer Service Unit

The Lands Commission has launched an ultramodern Client Service Access Unit (CSAU) to enhance its service delivery to members of the general public.

Financed by the World Bank and other development partners, CSAU would serve as the new interface between the Commission and members of the public.

Speaking at the launch on Wednesday in Accra, Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission, Dr. Wilfred K. Anim-Odame said the CSAU shall provide the platform to access all land services at the Lands Commission.

According to him, CSAU would significantly reduce the turnaround time in the delivery of land services, including plan preparation, stamp duty, official searches and issuance of land title certificates.

He said it would improve transparency and reduce cost of transacting business at the Lands Commission.

Dr. Anim-Odamen indicated that “clients of the Commission who desire to acquire parcel or cadastral plans; those who will want to apply for an official search report to reveal historical transactions in respect of a parcel of land or apply for land title certificate in the Greater Accra Region should now do so only from the Client Service Access Unit.

“Let me take this opportunity to clearly echo that after today, clients of the Lands Commission will no longer be required to move from one division to another within the Commission to access any of the land services apart from the CSAU,” he stressed.

Commenting on the efficiency of the CSAU, the Executive Secretary disclosed that “a system has been put in place for clients to receive text messages on the progress of their land related application.”

He said, “The Commission will also, when necessary, send a text message to invite clients for inspection and also when land title certificates are ready for collection, the Commission will send text messages to invite applicants for collection.”

He noted that an on-site banking facility has been provided at the CSAU for all payments and issuance of official receipts.

Touching on the ongoing reforms at the Lands Commission, he stated emphatically that the CSAU was one of five units that the Commission had planned to inaugurate by the close of 2015.

Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osah Mills, in a statement, described the introduction of the CSAU as a significant milestone in the land administration reforms being undertaken by government.

According to him, CSAU falls in line with Government’s strategy and effort towards streamlining the land service delivery system in the country.

He therefore challenged the Lands Commission “to submit a comprehensive action plan on how it intends to sustain the CSAU and extend its operations throughout the country.