By Bampia James Bundu
In a bid to create space for policy makers and land owners to dialogue, a civil society organisation, Green Scenery yesterday opened a 2-day national conference on “creating a platform where policy makers, local authorities, civil society, land owners, and land users and Ministries Department and Agencies (MDAs)".
The meeting is also interfacing, sharing ideas for discussion and consolidating as part of what they say is their contribution towards the constitutional review process relative to land rights and tenure.
Executive Director of Green Scenery, Joe Rahall, said the objective of the meeting for which participants were drawn from the 12 districts of the country, was to deliberate on the issues objectively and come up with independent recommendations that would be used not only for the constitutional review process but also for the policy formulation on land.
National Coordinator of the National Advocacy Coalition on the Extractives (NACE), described the conference as “timely especially now that the constitutional review process is ongoing and the formulation of a land policy is also underway”.
Cecilia Mattia commended Green Scenery for the conference, adding that it would give participants the opportunity to ask questions and make their input into the land tenure debate in the country. She said land issues are “a threat to citizens and the nation as a whole if not handled properly”. She reaffirmed CSOs’ support and commitment in ensuring that land acquisition by multinational companies was done within the laws of the land.
Investment Promotion Manager at SLIEPA, Victor Bangura, explained that over the years they had been able to get new companies to invest in various areas in the country, which according to him would create jobs and help the socioeconomic status of the country. He said that as they went about luring international companies to invest in the country, they were also encouraging them to follow international best practices and to abide by the country’s laws.
Bangura noted that they believed in transparency and accountability, adding that all companies, before acquiring land must first have an agreement with the land owners and the community people. He assured CSOs of their continuous support in ensuring that a proper land policy was developed.
(C) Politico 24/06/14
