Accra, Oct. 1, GNA - A 16-member Land Policy Steering Committee to be chaired by the Minister of Lands and Forestry was on Wednesday inaugurated to formulate policies and guidelines for the implementation of the Land Administration Project (LAP).

The committee comprises six Deputy Ministers; Chairman of Parliamentary Select Committee on Lands and Forestry, President, Ghana Bar Association and a representative from the National House of Chiefs. The rest are, a representative of Institute of Land Management and Development; Head of National Council on Women and Development; a Jurist, a representative from Academia and a Project Coordinator.

Inaugurating the members, Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Lands and Forestry, noted that land constituted a major source of the greatest challenge to national cohesion and peace today.

"The way we have managed our lands so far has dictated whether we shall have peace or conflict with our neighbours, whether the investment climate we have created will yield dividends or not and whether indeed we can advance the pace of our socio-economic development," The Minister said.

He said a sober reflection over the issues confronting Ghana's land administration and management clearly showed that "we have not performed well in the past and as a result we are plagued by a myriad of problems".

Professor Fobih said a cursory look at the problems suggested that the country should focus on three key areas which included, the facilitating of access to land by all stakeholders; ensuring security of tenure of protection of land rights and improving institutional capacity to achieve efficient and cost effective land administration.

He said the complexity of the project required a high level coordination and direction from diverse groups at the highest level possible within government, customary authority, civil society, public service, academia and private sector to ensure effective implementation. 1 Oct. 03