A Bill for a law to regulate land administration and Edo State Geographic Information Service (GIS) on Wednesday, January 31, 2018 passed second reading state’s House of Assembly.
Leading the debate for passage of the bill, Majority Leader, Mr Roland Asoro (APC Orhionnmwon South), said “the bill if passed, will lay to rest, all sharp practices associated with land administration in the state’’.
Asoro explained that the computerisation of all lands in the state would reduce the bureaucratic bottlenecks connected with acquisition of Certificate of Occupancy.
He added that it would also increase the internally generated revenue base of the state.
According to the leader, the computerisation of all lands in the state would provide adequate information on true ownership status of all lands in the state.
The member representing Ovia-South West, Godwin Adenomo, said that passage of the bill would ensure that Global Positioning System (GPS) services could be activated to give accurate information on any land in the state.
He explained that the bill sought to curtail the menace of illegal acquisition of lands in the state and enhance accurate data collection for land administration.
In her contribution, Mrs Elizabeth Ativie advocated that the agency that would handle the computerisation of all lands in the state should be under the supervision of Ministry of Lands and Survey.
According to her, it is to ensure desired results and eliminate duplication of responsibility.
Many lawmakers unanimously supported the passage of the bill.
In his remarks, the Speaker, Mr Kabiru Adjoto, said that passage of the bill would ensure computerisation of all lands and put all communities in the state on the map for easy identification.
He referred the bill to the Committee on Rules, Business and Government for further input ahead of its passage.
Meanwhile, the House adopted a motion calling on local government councils in the state to perform their function of naming streets and numbering of houses as enshrined in the fourth schedule of the 1999 Constitution.
By Nefishetu Yakubu
