Resource information
To implement the vision of fostering
economic development, social equity, and a transparent and
effective government, the Government of Liberia has outlined
key transitions that need to be accomplished. These include
the development of infrastructure (roads, electricity),
schools, job creation and transition from war, civil
conflict and social polarization to a well functioning
society in which economic opportunities are fostered and
distributed equitably. Yet clearly, reform of the land
tenure system is also a priority of Government. This is
because effective land policy makes an enormous contribution
to improve the investment climate of Liberia, ensure maximum
use efficiency of land; increase land based revenues and
improves equity in the access and use of land, thereby
reducing social polarization and violence. Today, security
of land tenure in today's Liberia is weak to
non-existent. Some of the key problems include the
following: a) the legal distinction between public land and
tribal lands lacks clarity, resulting in tensions between
government, which has long asserted ownership of and the
right to alienate large areas of land occupied by
traditional communities, and those communities, who regard
this land as their own; and b) key land administration
agencies have lost human and technical capital, and
debilitated and need to be rebuilt istration agencies have
lost human and technical capital, and debilitated and need
to be rebuilt? There is a need to re-examine the provisions
of the laws concerning public land and its alienation and
the law concerning the rules and regulations on the
'hinterlands'. All reflect extensive claims to
state ownership of land and resources on land under
customary law, and such claims have been the source of
political tensions which contributed to the conflicts of the
past decades. There is a need for redress, and a careful
rebalancing of interests to both enhance rural livelihoods
and permit the exploitation of valuable resources in the
national interest. Such redress must, once standards are
clear, involve survey and registration of both public land
and the land of rural communities.
