Ministry staff sensitised on LAP-2

He indicated that the five-year project funded by the World Bank, the Canadian International Development Association (CIDA) and the Government of Ghana was addressing critical issues militating against effective and efficient land administration in the country.

He said LAP-1 laid the foundation by reviewing the statues on land, carried out institutional reforms and established customary lands secretariats, but  LAP-2, according to Dr Karikari, was deepening the reforms made under phase one, enabling the land sector agencies to be more responsive to clients, cutting down the cost and time of doing business and providing an enabling environment to reflect the objective of an efficient and transparent land service delivery.

He indicated that beneficiaries of the project would include land owners, traditional authorities, small scale farmers, tenant farmers and estate developers. Others are metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies, the judiciary and service providers such as electricity, water, fire service and telecommunications.

In her address, the Director of Administration of the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource, Mrs Gifty Biyira, commended the efforts of the PCU of the LAP for their demonstrated commitment to achieving the goals of the project.

She said the ministry considers LAP-2 as its flagship project and as the only stand alone project on land funded by the World Bank in Africa, it was important for the coordinating unit and the implementing agencies to put in their best for the country to have an efficient land tenure devoid of dispute and rancour to attract local and foreign investment.

Mrs Biyira said the project also served as the ministry’s contribution towards effort to reduce poverty in the country and to make life more comfortable for the citizenry and expressed her gratitude to the PCU for updating staff of the ministry on the status and focus of the project so far.

Mrs Sarah Antwi Boasiako, the Social Development and Gender Specialist took participants through the gender strategy for the project and urged staff of the ministry to be conscious of gender in all their output as officials.