LGPRC set to convert into Ministry of Land Affairs

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Land Grab Prevention and Restitution Commission (LGPRC) is set to be transformed to “Ministry of Land Affairs and Restitution of Emirate-grabbed Land.”

Over the past two and a half years, the commission has reclaimed 3.9 million jeribs of land from illegal occupation.

Maulawi Ihsanullah Wasiq, the secretary of the commission, said during a gathering in Kabul that, during this period, the commission handed over more than 12.772 million jeribs of land in several provinces to the Land Bank of the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation, and Livestock for registration as government land.

According to him, 3.9 million jeribs of land has been reclaimed from illegal usurpation across various provinces during the same period.

He added that in the past two and a half years, the commission also identified and designated over 49.7 million jeribs of land as state-owned land across several provinces.

He noted that in Kabul alone, more than 66,000 jeribs of land has been reclaimed from illegal grabbers.

According to Wasiq, dozens of cases have been referred to the special court established to address land grabbing issues, and verdicts have been issued on many of them.

He also added that in addition to reviewing the cases of 36 residential schemes (shahrak) in Kabul, numerous other residential schemes across the country have been examined, and rulings have been issued regarding 13 of them in Kabul.

Without going into details, Wasiq said the commission will soon be converted into the “Ministry of Land Affairs and Restitution of Emirate-Grabbed Lands.”

He also said that a draft law on the prevention of land grabbing and the reclamation of grabbed lands has been prepared and is ready for publication.

Operational procedures for the commission’s meetings and secretariat have been drafted, along with technical procedures for the identification and verification of grabbed lands, which are also ready for publication.

Wasiq emphasized the moral, religious, and Islamic duty of scholars, elders, influential figures, and tribal leaders to stand with the Islamic Emirate in the fight against this wrongful practice and to encourage the public to avoid engaging in land grabbing.

He urged religious scholars to highlight these issues clearly and seriously through sermons and gatherings.

Wasiq called on those who have grabbed land to voluntarily return government lands by approaching the relevant authorities.

sa/ma