News on Land

‘WOLTS Team Perspectives’ is a new series of blogs launched in February 2020 by the global WOLTS team. In this series, field team members share their views about the impacts of the project’s action-research on gender, land and mining among pastoralist communities in Tanzania and Mongolia.

The Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction has set 2021 as the deadline to complete land registration nationwide, including indigenous land registration, with 74% of total land parcels already registered.

Following talks on customary land being alienated from land owners, the Land Department is encouraging Customary Land Owners to have their land registered.

This is to ensure these lands are bankable, so that they can use them for further development.

A series of land complaints were filed with the Mondulkiri Provincial Court on Monday by residents of Lames and Pou Lu villages who claim two community leaders stole land to sell.

The four indigenous plaintiffs also filed a complaint against an environment official for not preventing the offences and against a couple – Kek Than and his wife Oeu – for land grabbing offences.

A program was announced by Lae MP and Minister for Lands and Physical Planning John Rosso to assist people in Lae with land title issues. Mr Rosso said the program is to help those who have been residing on state land and other existing land for years without titles. “This is to give land title to people who are sitting on the existing land without attaining the land title.

From forced displacement to conflict over resources, the coronavirus pandemic has created a “perfect storm” for land rights abuses - and the situation is likely to worsen, researchers and activists warned on Thursday.

The Lands Department is looking at providing affordable housing for public servants as well as taxpayers.

Minister John Rosso made their intention known during a recent press brieng in Port Moresby.

Main photo: land to be taken for the Vientiane Expressway in Laos is shown in a 2020 photo (RFA)

Concession to extract timber from 148,000 hectares in upper Baram was granted despite repeated objections from local communities.

The impact of COVID-19 has been felt across the globe in a wide range of countries and very different environments. The pandemic has already affected countries in every region, making this a truly global situation where every country must take steps to prepare and respond.

Main photo: Protesters call in Phnom Penh for government authorities to intervene in land-rights disputes, Jan. 13, 2020 (RFA).