Vanuatu Review of National Land Legislation, Policy and ... - AusAID

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the basic policy commitments made at that time have been undermined in importantrespects. Perhaps the main underlying reasons for this loss of direction were –the ambiguity surrounding the legal powers and responsibilities of thecustom owners of land, anduncertainty over the Government’s role in relation to land dealings.In a country where, by the Constitution, the full land ownership of the customowners was entrenched, and dealings in land are carried out directly betweencustom owners and outsiders, failure to address this ambiguity and uncertaintymade custom owners very vulnerable to exploitation. Where the Government isgiven a role in land dealings (eg, the Minister’s power of approving negotiators, andthe dealings which eventuate from direct negotiations), the powers have frequentlybeen abused. These policy weaknesses must be addressed, and fortunately theLand Summit resolutions go a long way in clarifying these basic matters.2.3. LegislationIn the absence of policy clarification of the above basic matters, it follows that theland legislation is deficient in important respects. Many new land laws have beenpassed by the Parliament since independence, but much of the current legislationwas designed to handle the conversion of pre-independence titles to the new postindependenceregime, yet it remains the basic legal framework for the country’s landsystem to the present day. Where there have been legislative “innovations”, onewas aimed at converting urban land to individual freehold ownership (against thespirit, and probably the letter, of the Constitution), and another was the introductionof a strata titles regime – a law whose defects have allowed a spate of “unofficial”subdivisions.2.4. Land administrationThe Department of Lands, Surveys and Records has grown to provide a range ofland services, some common-place (eg, surveys) but others more particular toVanuatu, and more demanding. The latter include advising the Minister in theexercise of powers to approve negotiators and the land dealings which eventuatefrom negotiations (advice which the Minister is not obliged to accept), involvement insettling land disputes, and land use planning (the latter powers being exercised atprovincial level). Officials suffer from the usual problems of lack of resources tocarry out their functions adequately, but they are also affected by the policy andlegislative ambiguities and uncertainties referred to above. In a proposed landdealing, it is unclear who the Lands Officer is supposed to be acting for – thecustom owners? the other members of the land-owning group? the localcommunity? the State? The interests of these stakeholders are often in conflict.The above is only a very brief outline of the deficiencies which undermineachievement of the three main themes of the Land Summit – sustainable landmanagement, fair dealings in land, and progress with equity and stability. This reportwill provide a more thorough review of Vanuatu’s current policies, laws andadministrative systems affecting land ownership, management and development.4
2.5. Basic needsLand dealings in Vanuatu (negotiations, leases, registrations, sub-divisions, etc)have got out of control in recent years, and the resolutions of the National LandSummit require that they be brought back under control. This will mean difficultdecisions, not only because there has probably been a high level of non-compliancewith legal requirements, but also because of the sheer volume of land dealingscoming before official bodies for approval. Options which will be considered include:a moratorium on further processing of new dealings (a temporarymoratorium is already in place); an inquiry into the legality of recent dealings, with a view torecommendations for remedying the situation; more aggressive application of the remedies currently available –forfeiture of leases, prosecutions for breach of public access and zoninglaws, etc.; amendments of legislation, possibly with retrospective effects; as a last resort, compulsory acquisitions.Each of the above options entails a degree of risk (including ‘sovereign risk’), whichwill have to be weighed against the benefits of regaining control over the nation’sland affairs.2.6. Doing Business in VanuatuIn “Doing Business in 2007” 2 , the difficulties faced in undertaking business activitiesin Vanuatu are highlighted. Of the data on 175 countries, Vanuatu is ranked at 58thin doing business. However in relation to trade, employment and land registrationVanuatu is ranked in the bottom half of all countries. These statistics highlight thatthere are a number of areas where Vanuatu needs to focus attention if it is toimprove business and land administration activities.In relation to registering property it is stated that to register a land parcel (a lease) ittakes on average 188 days which is compared with 31.8 days in OECD countries.The cost in Vanuatu to register is approximately 7% of the property value which iscompared with 4.3% for OECD countries. These figures reinforce some of theconcerns expressed by the National Land Summit and highlight the importance ofVanuatu commencing action immediately to address a review of land relatedlegislation and procedures in land administration.3. LAND POLICY AND LEGISLATION3.1. At the time of independenceFor present purposes, land policy development in Vanuatu can be regarded asbeginning on the eve of independence in 1980. Under the previous British-French2 World Bank, Doing Business in 2007 – How to Reform, 2007.5
Page 1 and 2: VANUATUREVIEW OF NATIONAL LANDLEGIS
Page 3 and 4: Table of ContentsAbbreviations…
Page 5 and 6: AttachmentsAttachment 1:Attachment
Page 7 and 8: Executive SummaryThe National Land
Page 9 and 10: 1. INTRODUCTION1.1. The National La
Page 11: Working under the direction of the
Page 15: “(2) The consent required under S
Page 18 and 19: participation by ni-Vanuatu nationa
Page 20 and 21: (Sec. 25). In such cases, any money
Page 22 and 23: i. introduced a different formula f
Page 24 and 25: 3.2.5. Urban Lands Act 1993The decl
Page 26 and 27: 4. REVIEW OF THE LAND POLICY AND LE
Page 28 and 29: a) Are appropriate land use and imp
Page 30 and 31: 5.4. Land dispute settlementArticle
Page 32 and 33: c) a number of village and area cou
Page 34 and 35: a) The Act is administered by Provi
Page 36 and 37: Problems have arisen when custom ow
Page 38 and 39: Despite the substantial reforms and
Page 40 and 41: To ensure that land disputes are ma
Page 42 and 43: Deconcentration; and,Divestment.The
Page 44 and 45: The need for the preparation of the
Page 46 and 47: 7.12. ZoningLand management activit
Page 48 and 49: VANUATU LAND USE MANAGEMENT AND ADM
Page 50 and 51: 8.4. Time FrameThere are a number o
Page 52 and 53: Attachment 1INTERIM TRANSITIONAL ST
Page 54 and 55: Attachment 1Resolution 7: There mus
Page 56 and 57: Attachment 1EnforcementResolution 1
Page 58 and 59: Attachment 12. The Malvatumauri Nat
Page 60 and 61: Attachment 2INTARIM TRANSISIONAL ST
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Attachment 2 Kavman hemi mas pasem
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Attachment 2Long-tem strateji1. Mal
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Attachment 3Council of Ministers Re
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Page 72 and 73:
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Attachment 5Membership of Steering
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Attachment 6C. Land-related legisla
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Attachment 7Contents1. INTRODUCTION
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Attachment 7without which there wil
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Attachment 7Director GeneralDirecto
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Attachment 7To extend the work of t
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Attachment 7The number of land reco
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Attachment 72.3.2. Enforcement Unit
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Attachment 74. ENVIRONMENT UNITThe
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Attachment 7The Shefa Corporate Pla
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Attachment 7 Strengthening of DOLSR
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Attachment 76.4. Overlap and Duplic
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Attachment 8Res.NoResolution Admini
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Res.NoResolution Administration/ Ac
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Attachment 9c) A Part covering deal
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Attachment 9considered by the Counc
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Attachment 9reviewing the present l
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Attachment 10VANUATU LAND USE MANAG
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Attachment 10In valuation there are
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Attachment 10the Secretary of the M
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Attachment 10which extend below the
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Attachment 10Short Term Initiatives
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Attachment 11Scoping Notes for Shor
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Attachment 11an improved understand
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Attachment 11It is proposed that th
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Attachment 113. Develop a methodolo
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Attachment 11particularly under the
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Attachment 11Institutional arrangem
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Attachment 11The Foreshore Developm
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Attachment 11 Operating within a fo
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Attachment 11Institutional arrangem
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Attachment 12Date Personnel Intervi
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Attachment 12Date Personnel Intervi
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Attachment 13Purpose and Objectives
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