Land administration key to land problems in PNG

THE greatest need to resolve land issues in Papua New Guinea is to strengthen the capacity of land administration.
“A strong land administration and governance is a must if there is to be real tangible development in PNG’s land reforms,” Lands and Physical Planning Department’s Anthony Luben said.
“Bribery and corruption have taken centre stage and little or no attention has been given to governance,” he said at the Association for Surveyors PNG Inc Congress in Port Moresby’s Hideaway Hotel on Tuesday.
Luben presented a paper on behalf of Lands secretary Pepi Kimas who could not attend due to other commitments.
“At present, 3% of the total land mass in PNG is alienated land and 97% is customary owned.
“A concern is that most economic activities are happening on state land. State land is becoming saturated and development needs to take place elsewhere.
“There is a need to have easy access to customary land for economic development, and this is fundamental to the government’s Vision 2050.”
The National Land Development Programme (NLDP) was drawn up with the aim to address issues of land administration, land disputes and customary land registration, among other things.
“Under the NLDP, the registration of customary land is the key to economic growth and it is hoped that most customary-owned land will be registered in the near future.
“The registration will enable landowners to have clear titles with defined ownership and boundaries and also minimise law and order problems associated with land issues,” Luben said.
“To facilitate all the processes involved, the strengthening of the capacity of the human resources of the implementing agencies within the Lands Department is crucial,” he added.