The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel A. Jinapor has charged Senior Management members of the National Lands Commission to as a matter of urgency speed up work on all projects and programs being currently undertaken by the Commission.
He urged the Management of the commission to get on with and complete all projects under the Land reformation program, infrastructure development, digitalization among others, all in efforts to enhance land administrative system in Ghana.
The Minister stated this when he opened the First Quarter meeting of the 58th Annual General Meeting of the National Lands Commission top management in Accra, on Thursday, 16th March, 2023.
Hon. Jinapor in his remark underscored the importance of the Lands Commission as a creature of the 1992 Constitution saying that "the gravity of the responsibility, as a repository of the records relating to all Lands in the country says it all. You can't have cocoa if you don't have land, you can't have gold if you don't have land, you can't have agriculture if you don't have Lands so everything boils down to land and that is why I believe, Lands Commission is such an important Commission that should not be taken for granted."
He recognised and appreciated the efforts of his Deputy responsible for Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Benito Owusu-Bio, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Alex Quaynor, the Executive Secretary, Mr. James Dadson and members of the management for the considerable work accomplished under his two years tenure of office and hoped that more work will be done going foward.
The Lands Minister reiterated the need to work together as a team as he noted the task ahead is a herculean one and would require all hands on deck "in the spirit of corporation, candor, mutual respect, and collaboration to get more work done and help resolve the old age problem bedeviling land administration."
The National Chairman of the Lands Commission, Mr. Alex Quaynor in his submission assured the Lands Minister that the Commission will work assiduously to meet the set targets in implementing all the land reformation programmes.
He expressed the Commission's gratitude to the Minister for pushing them beyond their limits to get their communication strategy up and running and making thier efforts known to the public.
Mr. James Dadson, the Executive Secretary of the Lands Commission on his part, gave a comprehensive report on the projects and programmes the Commission has embarked on so far, noting that among others, the Commission has been able to distribute over 1000 copies of the new Land Act to citizens across the country.
He also used the occasion to disclose that the Headquarters of the National Lands Commission will be completed in July 2023.
The Meeting saw representation from all the 16 Regional Chairmen, representatives of professional bodies and other government agencies.
Samuel Abu Jinapor with senior management of the Lands Commission