The President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu II, has called on the leadership of the Land Surveying Division (LSD) to ensure that members who are involved in the unhealthy sale of lands are punished.

He admits some Chiefs are collaborators in such acts that have resulted in many loss of lives while others are still involved in legal battles, with some also depressed.

He also noted that surveyors at the assemblies are to ensure the implementation and coordination of schemes with their planning units before land registration as required by the land Act 2020.

The Chief, who is also the Paramount Chief of the Dormaa Traditional Area, averred that the nation stands to benefit economically if laid down procedures are followed.

“The land value chain is a huge sector of the economy to be exploited positively than this piecemeal approach that is rather giving way for quacks to become relevant than the trained professionals”, he said.

He further said, “As a traditional leader, I do not discount the crude and fraudulent cooperation of some chiefs and opinion leaders with the tacit support of some surveyors to perpetuate land sales without planning schemes”.

The new Land Act is clear on offenders, but Nana Agyeman Badu II called on the Lands Commission and the leadership of the LSD “to peer review and bring to book professionals shamefully involved in the unhealthy practice”.

He made the remarks at the 2022 seminar at the LSD of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors in Sunyani in the Bono Region.

The two-day seminar themed: Coordinated implementation and management of local plans for the socio-economic development of Ghana", would afford members the chance to deliberate on challenges affecting the profession and its impact on the socio-economic development of the country.

Dormaahene, Nana Agyeman Badu II also expressed worry over the noncompliance of land regulations, with evidence suggesting that developers blatantly disregard provisions of local plans in the usage of land.

He called for the involvement of Chiefs, landowners, and citizens to ensure that local plans are successfully implemented.

“I am calling on you as surveyors and the land agencies to develop a scheme where people will not be able to develop land when they are not owners,” he said.

He said he does not believe in demolishing buildings when authorities watch on for the completion of same with no proper scheme.

“The time has come for us to enforce all the regulations that we have so that people will not build up to a point only for it to be razed down for them to lose everything”, he appealed.

On his part, the LSD Chairman, Isaac Larbie, said the nation can only achieve meaningful economic growth and development of the land when professional surveyors are involved in the positioning of structures.

According to him, proper planning for physical development requires maps and plans prepared by land surveyors to show existing features, infrastructure, and the nature of the terrain but some of the planning and designs of layouts have little or no surveying input.

“These lapses must be redressed and the correct procedure adopted to have a meaningful development of land”, he said.

Mr. Larbie also underscored the timely nature of the seminar, which he posits would enlighten participants and the nation that the role played by land surveyors cannot be underestimated.

He urged members to acknowledge the role played by other stakeholders to achieve the purpose of the theme.