Ghana's Parliament is to scrutinize and approve the draft Lands Commission Bill, which seeks to promote judicious use of land and protect people's right and interest in land issues when it resumes in October this year. The Bill, when approved, will ensure that land, as a limited resource, is used in accordance with suitable management principles and maintenance of sound eco-system. It will further ensure that land development is done in conformity with the nation’s development goals. According to Ama Kudom Agyeman, an official of the Lands Commission, the Bill was originally scheduled for Parliament in May this year in accordance with the Road Map for the legal and institutional reform being pursued under the Lands Administration Project. However, she said the move was delayed when Cabinet requested the Attorney General’s Department and the Justice Ministry to clarify some issues on the draft bill. When approved into an Act, it is expected to reform the Lands Commission to integrate the operations of public services lands institutions under the Commission to help secure effective and holistic land administration. The Bill also aims at revising and consolidating existing laws on the major public institutions which manage and administer land. This is expected to help them improve their services and create a one-stop shop for land management and land services delivery. Mrs. Kudom Agyeman stressed in an interview with The Statesman that legal responsibility for land administration had been currently spread among seven public agencies. These include, the Lands Commission, Survey Department, Land Title Registry, Land Valuation Board, Town and Country Planning Department and the office of the Administrator of Stool Lands. She noted that the creation of multiple land administration agencies had left a legacy of unresolved problems such as scattered and restricted access to records, obsolete operating procedures, overlapping, conflicting and unclear mandates. Others include duplication of efforts and responsibilities as well as wasted management of land resources. "Having regard to the fact that housing, agric, forestry, mining, tourism and physical infrastructure depend on land, there is the need to revamp the whole land administration system of this country,” she said. The Bill, when approved will make the new Lands Commission, the institutional body charge with the management of Land. Source: Statesman