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

Attachment 1INTERIM TRANSITIONAL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGYTemporary MoratoriumSub-divisions Any application for new subdivisions that have not come through theDepartment and the Ministry for approval before the Summit took place, aretemporarily suspended until further notice.Surrender of Existing Agricultural Leases Any application to surrender existing agricultural leases into residentialleases for subdivisions are temporarily suspended until further notice.Power of the Minister when Land is Disputed The Minister’s power which is used when land is disputed is temporarilysuspended until further notice. The Minister can only use that power in casesof public interest, such as airports, wharfs, and other public utilities.Temporary administrative measuresLand ownership1. Advertise kastom owner forms at public places such as Provincialheadquarters, schools, nakamals, community halls, and other places to giveopportunity to the public to access them.2. Kastom owner form must be considered through a proper village meeting.3. That village meeting must have proper minutes to be attached to the kastomowner form when you return it to the Department of Lands.4. If the nakamal (village meeting) finds that there is a dispute over that land,the dispute goes directly to the chiefs or tribunal to resolve the ownershipissue before any application can be submitted to the Department of Lands.5. Any land that the village meeting refers to the chiefs or Land Tribunal, theMinistry of Lands through the Department of Lands must know about.How to Find/Determine who is Land OwnerShort-term strategy1. The Malvatumauri National Council of Chiefs, Cultural Centre, andProvinces need to work with communities to deal with any leaseapplication in accordance with the steps set out in the kastom owner form.6