Plateau state government on Friday warned land title owners in the state owing ground rent to pay up or face prosecution.
Commissioner for Lands, Survey and Town Planning in the state ,
Barrister Festus Fuanter gave this warning, while discussing with
newsmen in Jos at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Secretariat
Jos.
Our correspondent reports that the commissioner also commended the
state governor Simon Lalong for the good jobs he is doing in the state
and called on citizens of Plateau to support him at all times .
He also said that only 60,000 out of 650,000 houses have land titles in Plateau state.
In his words “It will surprise you to know that only 60,000 houses
in Plateau state have land titles. To think that from our mapping of the
state we discovered that we have about 650,000 houses in the state. Out
of the 60,000 that have land titles, the state government is been owed
over N2billion in ground rent. For us we see this as tax evasion and it
is a crime, Let me use this opportunity to inform all those owing ground
rent that within the next two weeks they stand to face prosecution as
we have put everything in place for the process to begin”.
The commissioner also encouraged land owners in the state to come
and process their land titles, as the Lalong administration on
resumption of office reduced the cost of processing land titles as a way
of encouraging people to come regularize their land titles.
“Government waved 50% from the cost of land administration in the
state, as it realized that a title document is a document of
empowerment. This has helped people to get their title documents which
has enabled them also key into the Federal government’s various loan
schemes coming from various banks”, he stated.
Hon. Festus also commended Governor Simon Lalong, for keeping to his
promise of completing the projects of the past administration, as his
Ministry was the first to benefit with the completion of the Plateau
Geographic Information Systems (PLAGIS).
He revealed that with PLAGIS, the state has been benefitting tremendously.
“With the completion of PLAGIS by Governor Lalong, the state and the
Ministry has been benefiting in many ways. I can tell you now that
Plateau state has been mapped and with the touch of a button you can get
the map of any local government in the state. Processing land titles in
the Ministry that used to take up to a year before, now takes just 21
days”, he stated.
He further revealed that with the completion of PLAGIS, the state
government knows better the agricultural potential of the state, as well
as, the water bodies and water ways in the state, which has helped the
state to know where to situate dams, which would go a long way in
improving agriculture in the state. .
Speaking earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of Plateau
State NUJ Council, Paul Jatau, said the “Commissioners Roundtable” was
an opportunity for serving Commissioners in the state to come interact
with journalists in the state in a relaxed atmosphere, while discussing
issues concerning, not just their Ministry, but also the state and
country at large.
He thanked Hon. Festus Fuanter, for being the first to honour the Council’s invitation.