The Administrator of Stool Lands has not been able to disburse 58 million cedis, being royalties, since its inauguration in 1996, because the beneficiaries cannot be determined.

Parliament has urged the Administrator and the Minerals Commission to collaborate to determine beneficiaries immediately.

This came to light when a motion for the adoption of a report from the Administrator came to the floor of Parliament for debate on Wednesday.

Mr. Alex Kwaku Korankye, NPP-Asante Akim South, seconding the motion, called for a land policy to streamline the sale and acquisition of land to save the nation from the scourge of litigation.

He said land disputes continue to plague communities resulting in bitterness, injuries and even deaths.

Mr John K. Ackah, NDC-Aowin/Suaman, said the normal rent of two thousand cedis per acre is meagre and needs to be reviewed.

He urged traditional authorities to demarcate their areas and document the roll of tenants.

Mr. Ackah advised the administrator to employ more hands to help in the collection of rents because some remote areas have for a long time not been covered.

Paapa Owusu Ankomah, the Minority spokesman on Communications, asked the Administrator to find ways of adding the land acquisition fee known locally as "customary drink " to its revenue collection list.

" It deprives the nation of revenue that can be disbursed by the administrator in a more beneficial way."

The member called for a standard format of the land tenure system to scrap the disparities inherent in the present regime.

Mr. Johnson Asiedu Nketia, a Deputy Minister of Agriculture, said the present land use regime leaves much to be desired.

He said parcels of land are easily converted to uses other than those originally intended, thus creating serious planning problems.

"In the case of the urban areas, agriculture is greatly sacrificed for real estate development while the rural communities see the sinking of mine shafts instead of the farm projects they were told of."

Mr. Asiedu Nketia urged the administrator to intensify educational programmes to drum home basic issues like the use of royalties and who gets what in its sharing to stall the numerous disputes that emanate from it.

Mr. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu, NPP-Asante Akim North, queried the administrator for stating its poor staffing position in the report because the office has been empowered by the Constitution to use part of its resources for effective administration.

He said the financial report attached to the main body was hollow and could not capture the real financial situation of the office.

Mr. Baah Wiredu said he wondered why the office failed to keep the statutory 10 per cent of it total revenue collection over the three year period.

He called for more detailed financial reports in its subsequent submissions to convince the House of its commitment to transparency and accountability.

Mr. Emmanuel Baah-Danquah, NDC-Asutifi North, appealed to government to release lands vested in it to its original traditional owners.

Dr. Christina Amoako-Nuama, Minister of Lands and Forestry, thanked members for their objective analysis of the report and gave the assurance that the various concerns raised would be addressed.