More than 8,500 land titles have been processed during the government’s first year in office, Housing Minister Collin Croal has said, as a programme to regularise land occupation targets more than 21 areas.
In a recent interview with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Croal said the number of titles processed was expected to exceed 10,000 shortly.
“We have completed over 8,500 in this period. We will pass the 10,000 mark there, you know, in no time,” he said.
According to DPI, the regularisation programme includes communities where residents have occupied land for years, in some cases decades, without formal ownership.
Croal said the absence of ownership documents left residents uncertain about passing their properties on to their families.
“Persons who are living for years, decades, and they don’t have ownership… they have the challenge of where, who’s going to inherit,” he said.
The minister said the government was working with the relevant agencies to facilitate land transfers and regularise communities, while also addressing occupation of reserves and unregulated lands. The process involves surveying, planning and legal procedures before ownership documents can be issued.
Croal said the wider housing programme was intended to address the backlog while regularising existing communities and developing new housing areas. He said the government would continue this work over the next five years, with the aim of reducing squatting and expanding land ownership.
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