Group: Subsidise cost of registering land

 A GROUP of traditional landowners in Banz, Jiwaka, are asking the Government to subsidise the cost of registering their land.

This is because they cannot afford the cost of surveyors.

Michael Kapil, whose tribe lives near Banz town, said most of his tribesmen had agreed to register their land but could not afford to pay the fees charged by private surveyors.

The Government has recently been urging traditional landowners to register their land with it so they could help with its development.

They are supporting the initiative to protect the ownership of their land by registering it.

Kapil said one of his tribesmen attended a land registration workshop conducted by officials from the Land Department in Banz town early this month, encouraging customary landowners to register an incorporated landowner group.

He said it was a good concept but a lengthy and expensive process.

“We want to register our customary land and benefit from the developments taking place,” he said.

“But as villagers, we can’t afford to pay the fees charged by surveyors.

“In the past, our forefathers sold their land to developers and the State for less payment. 

“Now we are seeing other people benefiting from our land. For the sake of our future generations, we need to register our land, and protect it.”

Paul Kaman, a landowner from the Kamaneku tribe whose land is the site of Kundiawa town, agreed with Kapil.