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3 April 2023
The official launch of the Liberia Land Authority's (LLA) newly renovated and equipped County Land Office in Gbarnga is a milestone. Thanks to support from, amongst others, Lantmäteriet’s project in Liberia, the staff can offer better services and improve revenue generation.
During the grand opening, Lantmäteriet’s Deputy Director General Anders Lundquist cut the ribbon along with LLA chairman J. Adams Manobah, Sr., and Esther Walker, superintendent of Bong County, where the office is located.
For the staff of the Gbarnga office, the launching is most welcome. In the past, they have been housed in a building where they only had a couple of office rooms at their disposal. Now they can move into their own building, which has been renovated thanks to support from the World Bank.
Want to offer all services locally
Through the ILAMP project, Lantmäteriet has financed equipment such as furniture, computers, scanners, basic measuring equipment and solar panels to operationalize a functioning office.
The aim is for the authority to be able to offer all the services that the citizens in the county previously had to travel to the headquarters in Monrovia to transact. This in turn increases the opportunity for the authority to increased income – something that LLA urgently requires.
- Decentralization is a key issue for our economic development, says Philomena Bloh Sayeh, LLA's vice chairperson, in her statement.
ILAMP supports the training of staff
Like so many other speakers, she expressed her profound gratitude to Lantmäteriet and the Swedish government for the support through the ILAMP project.
Four more of the authority's local offices have been equipped thanks to ILAMP. The support also comes in the form of capacity development of the staff, most recently via a basic computer training for the employees in the offices that have now been equipped.
- The demand for the procurement of equipment was not originally included in the project's work plan. But we have a flexible way of working and were able to redirect and find solutions to the challenges that arise, says Christopher Byren, project manager for ILAMP.
"Important with women in leadership positions"
Charles Lawrence from the Swedish Embassy in Monrovia expressed his praise for the new office and the opportunities for increased service that this entails for the population.
He also highlighted the fact that the office has several women in leadership positions, which is important as the Land Rights Act (Liberia's land law of 2018) gives women the right to own land.
- I am proud that Bong is one County that has a female resident surveyor.