PM calls for tougher supervision of land use

A top leader has highlighted the need to improve the surveying and monitoring of land leases and state land concession projects that are currently poorly supervised.

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone.

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone advised officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to supervise the allocation and use of land more closely, when speaking at a meeting to summarise the work of the natural resources and environment sector in 2023 and outline plans for 2024.
Although the registration of land titles across the country has been well implemented, only half of the targeted number of land titles has been issued, he said.
In addition, the granting of land use rights by the relevant sectors in line with the Land Law, including at the district level, has not been completed as intended.
Under the law, state land concession projects should be strictly monitored in line with set regulations.
At the same time, projects that are unproductive should be stopped or cancelled, while those that are performing successfully and in keeping with specified categories of land use should be supported.
The Prime Minister suggested that in the future the allocation of land should focus on modernisation of the land sector such as by creating a modern and complete database that could be used by everyone to submit their land tax details and pay the requisite amount.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment plans to register and issue 220,000 land titles, amounting to 55 percent of the number cited in the plan for the whole of 2023.
Over the last 10 months, only 110,262 plots of land were registered and land titles issued, accounting for just 27.5 percent of the target of 400,000 plots set for 2023.
During the first half of the 2021-25 period, some 335,455 land titles were issued, accounting for just 21 percent of the total number specified in the five-year plan.
The ministry has now assessed more than 3 million land plots across the country, of which 1.5 million have been registered, while the remaining 1.6 million are expected to be processed by 2025.

By Times Reporters
 (Latest Update January 19, 2024)