Minister of Justice as speaker in the lecture on “The policy of legality and legislation about land and properties”
Minister of Justice, Lúcia Lobato, participated, as a speaker, in a lecture organized by the Timor-Leste University, 27th of September, in the salon of the faculty of Social Sciences and Policies, in Caicoli, on the theme “The policy of legality and legislation about land and properties”.
The Minister spoke, among other themes, of the current judicial situation of properties and their regulation and of the Ministry of Justice’s strategic plan for 2011-2030 regarding land and issues concerning their dispute. Lúcia Lobato made a brief description about the land Law and its guiding principals, about the attribution process for the first property title, the pros and cons of restrictions related with the declared areas, the mechanisms of the land Law to avoid the concentration of properties and the expropriation Law.
“The land issue has a fundamental role in Timor-Leste. The lack of definition about the owner of the property title generates situations of conflict, social confrontations and strong constraints in regards to economic development. Even though the process should be accelerated, the resolution of these issues demands a long period of time, a determined budget sum and human resources”, explained the Minister.
Lúcia Lobato also referred that her Ministry is striving to find solutions for the land problems and for that reason, some projects should be broadened, besides other services, starting from the Land Law approval. She also mentioned that a Property Registry should be established for all properties, regulate the use of the State Property, all the expropriations, classifications and use of the waste land, so it will be necessary to approve several diplomas as well as measures for the implementation of the referred law.
Concluding the lecture, the Minister highlighted the fact that the first step was given to find a solution for the land and property legalization and while it’s not possible to solve all the problems at the same time, land legalization is a priority and is fundamental. “We have to take into account that it is not only up to the Government to exercise this role, on the contrary, we all are called to collaborate in finalizing this project. The next important step is that this law project is approved by the Timor-Leste National Parliament”, concluded Lúcia Lobato.
