Review of National Land Legislation and Policy, Vanuatu and a Land Registration Project in Dubai

In the last newsletter in Project Opportunities we flagged that LEI had tendered for projects in Dubai and Vanuatu. It is pleasing to be able to report that LEI was successful in winning both these projects. The awarding of the Land Registration Project in Dubai resulted in much frantic preparation over the Christmas period by Chris Lunnay and a number of the consultants.

As mentioned in Newsletter No 9, LEI was successful in its bid to undertake the Policy Studies Component of the Palestinian National Authority’s Land Administration Project. After some delay created by the general strike by Palestinian Authority employees over the non-payment of their salaries (due to the freezing of funds following the election success of the Hamas Islamic Party in March 2006) the inception period finally kicked off in January 2007.

All involved on the Lao project continue to be kept on their toes as a number of strategic initiatives are developed within the Lao government that could have an impact on a number of project activities. The creation of the National Land Management Agency’s clearly back on the government agenda. This is creating some uncertainty for staff of the Department of Lands as decisions are made on the composition and tasks of the new agency.