Ministry of Lands and Country Planning has intensified efforts to reclaim State land, illegally occupied by encroachers in different parts of the country.
Last Saturday, a team of professionals from the ministry, accompanied by security officers, journalists and land stakeholders, embarked on planting of government sign posts, with inscriptions of reclaiming state lands. The motive is to reclaim state land encroached upon by land grabbers who have used falsified documents to illegally lay claims on lands belonging to the state.
The delegation first took journalists to physically see the encroachment of illegal structures at the Government Wharf ferry terminal, where over twenty houses, make shift structures, garages etc. were being used illegally.
From our investigation, we learnt that all the structures were built without building permits, and the ministry considered those buildings as ‘’illegal structures”. The land at Government Wharf ferry terminal is government land.
It was further revealed during the exercise that people encroached on State Land without legal documentation, and built houses on same without building permits from the Ministry.
Land grabbing has become a menace in society, with the government still losing huge quantity of land to land grabbers.
Despite numerous efforts by government in trying to address land issues, land grabbers continue to enjoy a field day in their nefarious land grabbing activities, with State Land being the most vulnerable, and this has informed moves by the Ministry to reclaim all state lands, empowered by the provisions of Section 3 Cap 117 of the Sierra Leone Land Act.
After Government wharf, the team left for Newton, Western Rural area, where similar exercise was conducted to secure and protect state lands. Some of the community stakeholders interviewed commended the government for doing what they believe was right. In all of the areas visited, there were visible evidence of encroachment on state lands.
It could be recalled that successive governments have embarked on this exercise over the years, but land grabbers seemed to have their way, and a step ahead of the government, often cutting corners or beating the system. Areas like Grafton, Waterloo, Kent, Bureh Beach, Kissy Town, are areas where the Government has reclaimed State Land over the years, and with this proactive move being instituted to reclaim state land within the western urban and rural districts, it is clear for the public to see that government is on the right track.
Lands Minister, Dr. Turad Senessie, in his recent interview, told the pubic how land grabbers have perfected the act of land grabbing, with state lands under attack. “We now have a well-documented system in place, and we have opened up the space for Sierra Leoneans to get land at very cheaper rate. But we have people who believe in land grabbing, and all they do is falsifying documents, and will go as far as even forging my signature. We have enough evidence to substantiate these allegations. We are now generating huge amount of revenue for the state’’ Minister Sennesie said.
He said the Ministry will determine the kind of structures to erect on land. “We decide the kind of structure land applicants should put up. Gone are the days when people can just erect any kind of structure they wish to erect,” he said, noting that land distribution is based on applications, and an applicant can then have a letter of offer from the Ministry. “It used to take up to five years to acquire State Land, but now, it will not take more than a year to acquire one,” he said.