March 1, 2021
By Mohamed M. Sesay
The Minister of Land Housing and Country Planning Dr. Turad Senesie has on Friday, 26th of February, informed Honorable Members of Parliament on the Committee of Lands and Housing that he has instructed his team to engage in a nationwide land banking process across the country.
Among other things, the initiative is geared towards the acquisition of state lands for real time investment purposes such as the establishment of factories that promote job availability.
Making this statement at the familiarization meeting with the committee Members in Parliament, Dr. Turad Senesie said that his ministry would be putting more premium on digitalization of the land administration and management.
He stressed the point that this is in the best interest of solving the perennial challenges that the ministry has been grappling with.
“I have just been in the Ministry for just couple of weeks but there are too many problems and too many challenges and too many complaints in the Ministry. A piece of land is being given to more than ten people at the same time and all of them have documents for a single land. So you begin to ask whether there is efficiency in administering such duties,” he said.
Minister Senesie added that because the Ministry is still faced with such problem of land acquisition, he said he would use the 21st century skills in land management by transforming the ministry from manual to an automated system.
He implored Members of Parliament to do a research on land administration and management in the Sub-Sahara Africa for them to understand that Sierra Leone is the only country within the Sub-Sahara Africa without land bank.
Dr. Senesie noted that the country’s development trajectory would be snail-paced if key investors come into the country with the intention of establishing factories and production industries that would provide jobs and contribute to the National Gross Development Product; with no land to offer such investors.
He further reassured Honorable Members that his team is now on the verge of executing the task of acquiring state lands that would inform national development.
He however observed that such a task cannot be actualized without the support of Members of Parliament and therefore formally appealed to them to endorse the well-meaning idea.
Dr. Turad Senesie also assured Members of Parliament that his is ready to work with them in the overall land management of state lands for the betterment of the people.
He disclosed that he came to ministry with an open mind to help resolve most of the problems that had bedeviled the sector.
. He concluded that before his appointment as the Minister of Lands Housing and Country Planning, he had discussion with Members of Parliament yearning for a complaints committee adding that it was the very reason that precipitated the moratorium on the administration of lands within the Western Area after he took the oath of office.
The Chairman on the Committee of Lands and Housing in Parliament Hon. Quinton Salia Konneh expressed his gratitude to the minister for honoring the call of Members of Parliament to have a familiarization meeting with them.
He said the Committee on Lands constitutes different members representing different constituencies. He assured the minister that the Committee is free of bias, and that the Committee is there to support the Ministry to achieve its mandates.
He also reassured the minister that the committee is always available for consultation and joint actions to drive the land reforms.
Hon. Quinton Salia Konneh further encouraged the minister to also collaborate with the Sierra Leone Housing Corporation (SALHOC) adding that, SALHOC is a very major component in terms of housing and development.
He told the minister that the committee had received several complaints from SALHOC under the previous administration of the ministry, asserting that y (SALHOC) has been totally left out in the administration and management.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee Hon Sahr Juana revealed that most ministers in the past turned their backs on members of Parliament immediately when they are approved, but commended Dr. Turad Senesie for reaching out the relevant committee under his domain.
He expressed hope that the minister will not only transform the Land Ministry, but to also leave a legacy so that prosperity would take stock of his stewardship.
He cautioned the minister to take note that many will befriend and they are the same friend of his predecessor who misled him.
He therefore encouraged the minister to be very careful with his staff, adding that he should not do things in haste, but study his environment, lest he is misdirected.
On his part, Honorable Abdul Karim Kamara stated that he had been advising the outgone minister on the fact that land issue is matter of life and death.
He further advised the minister to have a special committee that is manned with the responsibility of dealing with the acquisition of state lands, adding that Parliament is willing to work with him as representatives of the people in the understanding that certain decisions are not for the minister but rather a decision of the law.