Accessibility of customary land for residential property development in PNG: Challenges and prospects

Background information Demand for land by private property developers increases Stated owned land (3%) is almost exhausted Alternative option: access customary land Customary land can be accessed via the ILG and VCLR process

Lessons learnt from views of private property developers Shortage of state land increases cost of building a house Increase sales and rental prices High sales and rental prices in Port Moresby and others Supply more customary land to the formal market Customary land must have secure tenure or title Register customary land via ILG and VCLR process

Lessons learnt from views of private property developers Promote ILG/VCLR system Most landowners ill informed about the system More public awareness Encourage landowners to register their land

Challenges to access customary land Decisions regarding use of customary land is taken collectively Customary land is communally owned Any decision must include views of members of every social unit Exclusion of any member leads to disputes, development disruptions and even loss of human life Demarcation of customary land boundaries is not often clear Land boundary information passed orally Lack of reliable map or plans to identify traditional land boundaries Boundary disputes are common in PNG

Challenges to access customary land Inadequate public awareness Public not well informed on ILG and VCRL process Fear of losing customary land ownership rights via ILG and VCLR process Complicated land registration process ILG process consists of 17 steps involving 7 state agencies ILG/VCLR process is costly and lengthy Landowners face difficulties in accessing land registration requirements

Challenges to access customary land Poor land management practices Transparency and accountability issues relating to management of state land Poor record keeping of state land transaction files Absence of sustainable land use policy No land use policy to guide allocation, development, management and use of land and its resources

Policy interventions for improving access to customary land Promote public awareness on ILG/VCLR process More public awareness on the process, Acts that empower landowners, and expected benefits Awareness must include all stakeholders like landowners, property developers, students, private businesses, public servants Make ILG/VCLR system simple and efficient Redesign the current land registration process Be flexible with registration requirements like birth certificates

Policy interventions for improving access to customary land Include all communal members in the customary land registration Identify and include every member of social units in the decision making process Reduce potential land use conflicts Improve land administration system Develop an effective land administration system Promote transparency and accountability Establish a separate office purposely to manage customary land

Concluding remarks Encourage landowners to register their customary land through the legitimate ILG and VCLR process, lease the titles to developers while ownership rights still remain with landowners, and enjoy the benefits. Strongly discourage landowners selling unregistered land to developers. Landowners only benefits during transaction, and also losing ownership rights to developers.

Policy interventions for improving access to customary land Include all communal members in the customary land registration. Identify and include every member of social units in the decision making process Reduce potential land use conflicts Improve land administration system. Develop an effective land administration system, reduce time taken for registration Promote transparency and accountability Establish a separate office purposely to manage customary land

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