Lands Act review timely

I TAKE this opportunity to thank the Minister for Lands, Benny Allan, and acting Lands Secretary Luther Sipison for conducting an important consultative workshop in all regions to gauge stakeholders and people’s views prior to introducing notable changes to the curent Lands Act.
The current law has a lot of grey areas and loop holes that needs to be amended to meet our changing needs.
It is timely that this issue is brought to light as most indigenous people have lost most of their prime land areas away to colonial administrators and explorers who acquired traditional customary or indigenous land through scrupulous means by offering steel axes and knives, salt and bar of soap.
If you compare land for these goods it does not match and these people have made so much money from our land.
It’s time they give the land back to the traditional landowners without any hesitation.
Much of our prime land areas are still in the hands of settlers or foreigners who are apparently not legitimate land owners.
Most of them do not develop the land areas but are just letting the land areas bare and simply use the title as equity or collateral to do other business elsewhere.
The Lands Department should identify undeveloped land and give it back to the  traditional land owners so that we can equally participate in business opportunities instead of being spectators on our own land.


Gapo
Burns Peak, NCD