Land Commission Presents Draft Land Rights Policy Brief to Stakeholders
Photo Credit: Land Commission
The Land Commission and its partners in the land sector have been brainstorming on crucial issues inscribed in the draft Policy Brief on Land Rights.
In the draft Policy Brief, as was presented to members of the Land Stakeholders Consultative Committee in a meeting recently, the Land Commission recommends five basic categories of land rights which include Public Land, Government Land, Protected Land, Customary Land, and Private Land.
Making the presentation, the Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Cecil Brandy said the meeting was a crucial step in engaging stakeholders in the policy formulation process, after a long and collaborative effort to produce draft policy recommendations exerted by technical experts from the Land Commission, various government ministries and agencies, and civil society.
He said the formulation of a land policy for Liberia and land law reform is a major purpose of the Land Commission which requires intensive consultations at home and abroad.
He noted that the Real Property Cluster does not include the administration and management processes for land rights, which will be captured in Clusters for Land Administration, Land Use and Management, in addition to Land Dispute Resolution.
In the draft policy document, the Land Commission recommends nine overriding principles which are: (1) Secure Land Rights, (2) Economic Growth, (3) Equitable Benefits, (4) Equal Access, (5) Equal Protection, (6) Environmental Protection, (7) Clarity, (8) Participation, and (9) Evidence-Based.
Following the review and scrutiny of the draft policy brief by members of the Land Stakeholders Consultative Committee in a series of planned consultations, the document will be submitted to the President and Cabinet for further review and approval. Later, a longer Land Rights Policy Statement will be presented to a wider audience of Liberians country-wide and in the diaspora before being submitted to Government for final approval.
Members of the Land Stakeholders Consultative Committee comprise representatives of
government ministries and agencies, civil society organizations, national and international NGOs, UN and donor organizations as well as private individuals.