Plateau govt urges  land owners  to process their land titles 

By Golok Nanmwa, Jos

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.

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Plateau govt urges  land owners  to process their land titles