Group Urges Govt To Ease Land Purchase Process

The Enugu Coalition of Business and Professional Associations (ECOBPA) has advised Enugu State Government to ease the process of acquiring land Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to ensure development.

The Co-ordinator of the Coalition, Chief Emeka Okereke, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Enugu on Saturday.

Okereke said that government should streamline the process of acquiring land by collapsing the administrative process into “one-stop shop’’ and institute good internal control mechanism.

“This will eliminate bribery and corrupt practices associated with the process. Genuine local and foreign investors will also see the seriousness in government drive for economic development in the state,’’ he said.

He urged the government to resolve the problem of giving lands that had multiples C of O to different persons.

According to him, the incidences of original owners losing their land under fraudulent circumstances are not a welcome development.

“The application for C of O is fraught with abuses, such as nonchalant attitude by officials to applications.

“This happens to applicants that do not get recommendations from prominent politicians or top-ranking bureaucrats.

“The government should institute a transparent electronic system of processing C of O that does not exceed one month to boost economic activities, and property development for both residential and commercial purpose.

“Government should ensure that private developers who are allocated land acquired from communities or land owners for public interest are protected from the threats of the community members.’’

The co-ordinator said that the measure would decongest Enugu metropolis in terms of housing and infrastructural development.

“This will spur even development and attract investments into the state,’’ Okereke said.

ECOBPA is made up of 32 different business and professional associations.