Thomson Reuters Helps Liberian Government to Secure Land Rights
Posted: Tuesday, October 2, 2012
View Original Article
Wed Sep 26, 2012 3:42pm EDT
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Opening of Deeds and Records Office is a Milestone in a Nation
Where Land Disputes Fueled Years of Civil Conflict
LONDON, September 26, 2012 - Liberia's Centre for National
Documents and Records Agency (CNDRA) opened its new Customer
Service Office in Monrovia this week to improve citizen services
for land transactions.
This is a remarkable development for a country that emerged in
2003 from a long period of civil war fueled in part by conflict
over land rights.The office marks a significant milestone in the
Liberia Land Policy and Institutional Support project managed by
the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with
funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The Customer Service Office's use of OpenTitle(TM) software from
Thomson Reuters is enabling CNDRA to once again become the steward
of the nation's records, and allowing records to be digitised and
added to the land information system as citizens arrive at the
office.
"The opening of the deeds and records Customer Service Office
represents a new beginning for the people of Liberia," said
Philomena Bloh Sayeh, director general, CNDRA. "It is important to
have a more accurate record of land ownership in the country.
Instead of deeds being recorded by hand, we now have a digital
recording system in which records are electronically stored in a
national database. This improves the sharing of information and
transparency with the public and within government."
"It's important to recognise why USAID and MCC are investing in
land tenure in Liberia," said Timothy Fella, Land Tenure and
Conflict Specialist, USAID. "Land was an underlying driver of the
conflict in the first place. There was significant inequality in
regards to who had legal rights to what land. There was a majority
of the population that had traditional rights to land, but these
customary rights were not recognised by the statutory system,
leaving the state to lease out lands to third parties. That created
a number of grievances amongst certain populations, which
contributed to the conflict."
"For the very first time, the public can have their deeds and
records entered directly into a digital system which will register
their land and ensure their ownership is legally recorded,
verified, and stored in a national electronic database," said Peter
Rabley vice president of the government division within the Tax
& Accounting business of Thomson Reuters.
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