By Bill W. Cooper
The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) Executive Director, Stanley N. Toe has stressed the need for more budgetary increment to enable the smooth running of the Authority.He lamented that the LLA as the regulator of lands in the country is unable to perform its statutory responsibilities due to the limited resources received through budgetary allotment; something he said is immensely impeding the workings of the entity.
Speaking an exclusive interview with this paper at the ongoing three-day Rural Women Land Rights Conference in Gbarnga, Bong County, ED Toe explained that though the Lands Right Act calls for the surveying of community lands within the period of 24 months, the Authority is unable to adhere to said mandate due to the limited resources and including human resource available to the Authority.
According to him, if the needed support is given the authority and the capacity of the surveyors is built through the training of GPS technology which he said has happens in other nations.
He added, “It is time that we build the capacity of people at the rural level who will implement this thing. Another strategic is to build the capacity of rural journalists and community mobilizers who will help the LLA rollout the awareness in the 15 political subdivisions of the country.”
ED Toe however disclosed that the LLA is now in the process of developing a business strategic and indicated, “We are now projecting that in next five years, if we put things rightly in terms of our business strategy with all the land related services, an institution, we will be in the better position financially to operate smoothly.”
He further stated that the government through the LLA cannot continue to depend on donors funding to adequately perform its responsibilities and therefore recommitted the LLA fullest support towards the ongoing Rural Women Land Rights Conference.
The LLA is a product of the policy, legal and institutional reform of the land sector of Liberia led by the Erstwhile Land Commission. In October 6, 2016, the LLA was established by an Act of the National Legislature as an autonomous agency with operational independence.
As the one-stop-shop for land matters in Liberia, the Act provides that the LLA’s three key functions as summarized are Land governance functions, Land administration functions and Land use and management functions.