Land disputes

tional Capital District Commission signing an agreement with the Department of Justice and Attorney General and the Magisterial Services for the establishment of its Provincial Land Dispute Committee (PLDC), supposedly to assist itself to addressing land issues within the nation’s capital.
Before the situation gets out of context, the purpose and roles of the PLDC needs to be cleanly explained.
The impressions acknowledged by the NCDC city manager is that the PLDC is the authority to look into and address the land disputes settlement within the city precincts, which is not the case at all!
The establishment of the PLDC is to assist in managing the land disputes settlement act (LDS Act) in so far as the appointment of land mediators are concerned as well as recommending the declaration of mediation areas in the provinces.
The PLDC does not involve itself directly with any specific land disputes, as this is the functions of the three tiers of the land disputes mechanism, currently in place under the LDS Act.
The process commences with mediation of land rights disputes between the disputing parties and attended by the appointed land mediators within their mediation areas.
Failing the initial mediation process, the matter is then referred to the local land courts and further to the provincial land courts, should there be any appeal.
The NCDC now that it had established its PLDC should commence declaring pockets of the city areas as mediation areas as well as start looking into appointing land mediators for these mediation areas.

Lawrence Billy
Hospital Hill, Lae