National Land Development Program – Phase II: Project Design

Project Narrative

A Government of PNG developed National Land Development Program (NLDP) originated from a government led land reform processes that began with a National Land Summit, held in August 2005 and resulted in the preparation of a National Land Development Task Force Report. The National Land Development Task Force Report detailed a total of 54 recommendations on actions that need to be taken in the areas of, improving the land administration system, improving land dispute settlement systems and customary land development. AusAID supported these processes and then made funding available for the GoPNG to develop a Concept Design Document to enable the recommendations from the Task Force report to be progressed.

Land Equity International was contracted by AusAID to develop the Concept Design Document for the GoPNG which was finalised in October 2007 and ultimately approved by the National Executive Council of the Government as a strategic framework for the National Land Development Program. In accordance with the 2006 National Land Development Task Force recommendations, the 2007 Concept Design Document proposed an initial development strategy which specified that first priority should be given to land administration reform in the Department of Lands and Physical Planning. Dispute resolution and customary land development issues were expressly relegated to pilot activities on the basis that Magisterial Services, the Department of Lands and Physical Planning and the Office of Urbanization had little capacity to meet existing demand for these services, let alone cater for any increase.

Amendments in March 2009 to the Land Groups Incorporation Act and the Land Registration Act require the development of policy documents and administration systems to ensure that the NLDP Taskforce land reform agenda is not to be derailed by public dissatisfaction with the lack of government capacity to support customary land development. This was recognised by the National Land Development Program Management Committee which endorsed a proposal from the National Research Institute seeking AusAID assistance for the establishment of a Customary Land Development Support Unit.

Key services provided

In July 2009 Land Equity International was contracted by AusAID to Assist the Government of PNG develop and progress the National Land Development Program work with the GoPNG to further develop the Concept Design Document and to prepare a draft design document for AusAID support to the PNG National Land Development Program that meets AusAID’s quality principles and is consistent with the PNG Commitment on Aid Effectiveness. To support the design activities for the National Land Development Program the design team undertook a review of land administration activities, the institutional arrangements and institutional reform and capacity building requirements, gender and HIV and Aids issues as they specifically relate to land issues and support required by the National Land Development Program Management Committee to enable the land agenda to be progressed with appropriate management arrangements in place. The design team also undertook a strategic analysis of the land sector, assessed the National Land Development design framework, assessed the program management and financing arrangements, and reviewed the sustainability and risks associated with the future program activities.

The team consulted with the Department of Land and Physical Planning (DLPP), Department of National Planning and Monitoring (DNPM), Magisterial Services, the Office of Urbanization, and the Constitutional Law Reform Commission, National Capital District Commission, University of Technology, University of PNG, NGOs, private sector, customary land owners and Incorporated Land Groups, and individual stakeholders.

The Office of Urbanisation is undertaking pilot activities in relation to urban customary land registration activities and rural service centre development. A filed visit was undertaken to Taurama Valley where the piloting of the development of customary land for urban development is being undertaken. This enable the design team to gain an appreciation of the unique issues being faced in relation to the development of customary land by customary owners to enable the Incorporated Land Group to achieve an economic return from the land. This team was also able to assess the implications of the recent changes to the Land Groups Incorporation (Amendment) Act and the Land Registration (Customary Land) (Amendment) Act.

Workshops were run on “Gender and HIV and AIDS and Issues in the Land Sector” and “Land Administration and Decentralisation”. These workshops were attended by representatives from a wide range of interest and stakeholder groups including representatives from 8 provinces. The provincial representatives presented scoping reports on land administration issues in their province including disputes and customary land issues.

The design team reviewed the impact of a number of major activities that could impact on the future development of the National Land Development Program, including broadening Management Committee membership to include other government departments; the need to strengthen land dispute mediation, appropriate information dissemination to landowners, training and capacity building and devolution of land administration to the provinces. Specific education needs were assessed including the need to increase the number of licensed and registered surveyors in PNG to support the customary land development activities that will arise as a result of the legislative amendments.

The team developed options for consideration by the GoPNG in relation to a number of proposed activities including a Program Implementation Unit structures, a Customary Land development Support Unit, development of the NLDP Policy and 5 year Strategy and Implementation Plan and the development of a NLDP Policy as an umbrella document for the program. This included reviewing existing GoPNG proposals, developing TORs for key initiatives and developing duty statements for key positions.