S. Sudan losing millions in fake land transactions, says official
Article
Comments (33)
email Email
print Print
pdfSave
separation
increase
decrease
separation
separation
facebook
myspace
twitter
buzzyahoo
June 24, 2013 (JUBA) - Unscrupulous land transactions have cost South
Sudan government millions of money, which remain unaccounted for, an
official said.
JPEG - 16.1 kb
The proposed land for the construction of the Juba Specialised
Economic Zone in Central Equatoria state (L.Lomoyat)
Alikaya Aligo, the under-secretary in the housing ministry said lots
of taxes on land transactions in the young nation often go unnoticed
by concerned authorities.
According to Article 179 [a] South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution,
state land, property tax and royalties are sources of revenue for
states.
A proper follow-up of land related matters, Alikaya said, would help
government cover up for the gaps that could arise as a result the oil
shutdown.
Meanwhile, the undersecretary has hailed the upcoming land policy
currently before parliament, saying the new law would resolve land
matter between the central government and states.
In February, South Sudan cabinet adopted the long awaited land policy,
which seeks to address issues pertaining to land acquisition and its
management in the new nation.
“Land policy is a complementary component of national housing policy”,
Alikaya said in an interview last week.
The new policy, he further revealed, will address post-war conflict
over land rights, informal settlements in cities and towns, as well as
conflicts over access to land with pasture and water.
Land grabbing, which is the acquisition of land without regard for the
interests of existing land rights holders, and disagreements regarding
boundaries between counties and payams (districts), will also be
addressed by the policy.
The policy adopts a number of guiding principles which include
security of land rights, equitable access to land and provision of
security and diversity in tenure types.
The policy has divided land into three categories: public, private and
community-owned lands.
Unclear land policy has been blamed for scaring off investors and
encouraging land grabbing for many years to the lack of proper
channels and procedures for the acquisition of land by individuals and
institutions.
South Sudan parliament, Alikaya said, has already passed the
much-awaited national housing policy, which seeks to attract direct
foreign investments in the country.
Currently, banks in South Sudan do not provide long-term loans for
housing, making investments in housing projects an expensive venture.
At least 1.2 million housing units, officials from the housing
ministry said, are due to be built in the country in the coming years.
(ST)
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"South Sudan Info - The Kob" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email
to [email protected].
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To view this discussion on the web visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14orThdNtuDdhx_H2FJPcVx8pr%3DiEq30TgVAiTix6TtMGvw%40mail.gmail.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
