Land Subdivision Policy Advisory Committee appointed

The Ministry of Lands now has a committee formed to look into the subject of a policy to deal with land subdivision issues.

The eight-member Advisory Committee on Subdivision Policy was appointed Friday, August 8 by Jean- Marc Pierre, the Director of Lands, Survey, and Registry.

The Advisory Committee on Subdivision Policy is composed of Owen Sisi – Shefa Provincial Planner, John Rogara from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Jeffrey Kaitip from the Physical Planning Unit, Reedley Tari – Environment Department, William Frank – Port Vila Municipality, Martin Sokomanu – Survey Section, Department of Lands, Survey & Registry, Jay Hinge — Acting Principal Lands Officer, Lands, and Darren Vatu – Senior Lands Officer.

In his appointment letter to the advisory committee members, Pierre congratulated them on their appointment and says the Government of Vanuatu has engaged the support of the World Bank to assist with finding ways to deal with concerns over land dealings and land developments faced on a daily basis especially those changes associated with the effects of climate change.

The World Bank has provided funding assistance to help the Vanuatu Government with Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (MDRR), part of which is dealing with land issues including subdivision of land.

In his letter, the Director of the Department of Lands, Survey & Registry says the task of the Advisory Committee will be to assist Stephen Tahi, a Consultant appointed by the Ministry of Lands to draft the Subdivision Policy.

“The Consultant needs a body to assist him in this role effectively as he only has 60 days to have a policy in place,” Marc adds.

He says that each member of the committee has been appointed based on his expertise in the role he occupies to provide knowledge and information to share with the Consultant to help him formulate this subdivision policy.

The Committee will meet on Thursdays to discuss the reports from the Consultants once the reports are circulated to all the members.

“This is a challenging task but I am sure that with the expert knowledge that you all have, it will help move this important policy forward for the good of the country,” Director Jean-Marc Pierre said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Lands, Ralph Regenvanu has confirmed that no new subdivisions have been approved this year by order of the Director of the Department of Environment.

He says that with the gazetting of the new land laws in February 2014, only the new Land Management Planning Committee (LMPC) can now legally approve new subdivisions — Provincial Planners no longer have this authority.